\\\fvS'b 












Class 
Book 



E^^ 



WiiS- i. 



CopyiightN" 



CfiFKIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Pacific History Stories 

ARRANGED AND RETOLD FOR USE IN 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

by 

HARR WAGNER 

Assisted bv 

ALICE ROSE POWER 

Trincipal the Washington Irving School 

San Francisco. Cal. 




Westward the star of empire takes its way; 

The four first acts already past, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day: 

Time's noblest ofifspring is the last. 

— Berkeley 



HARR WAGNER PUBLISHING COMPANY 

San Francisco 

1918 



rS6i 



Copyrighted 

1918 

HARR WAGNER 



<>% 



©CU497823 



JUN 19 I9i8 



^y^\,\l 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Preface 9 

A Key for Pronouncing Words of Spanish Derivation . 11 

Some Notable Voyages and Discoveries 12 

Frontispiece 14 

The Story of How Balboa Discovered the Pacific . . 15 

Magellan; or the First Voyage Around the World . . 26 

Cabrillo 33 

At San Diego Bay 38 

The Story of Drake, the Brave Sailor 43 

The March of Portola 50 

The Story of the Missions 58 

The First Ship to Enter the Golden Gate .... 72 

The Discovery of the Rocky Mountains 75 

The Story of the Donner Party 96 

The Bear-Flag Republic IIS 

The American Flag in California 118 

The Discovery of Gold 122 

Who Named the Golden Gate? 130 

The Story of Fremont 134 

How California Came Into the Union 1-12 



The Story of a Battle With the Indians 146 

Old Californias IS" 

The Story of the Great Fire, 1906 162 

The Story of the Panama Canal 174 

Who Named California? ISO 

Meaning's of Spanish Names TS2 

Historic Landmarks 184 




PREFACE 

The voyages of discovery and notable events of the 
West Coast of America have not been accessible to the 
teacher and pupil. An honest attempt has been made by 
the writer to bring this knowledge to the schools in the 
form of an historical reader. The book is designed for 
the middle grades. The direct form of narrative has been 
observed; clearness of statement, short words, and the 
human side of histor}^ have been made characteristic 
features. 

The stories of Balboa, Magellan. Cabrillo, Drake, 
Portola, the Discovery of Gold, the Bear-Flag Republic, 
and others are interesting on account of the human and 
heroic side of the adventures. Where is the boy whose 
vision will not be enlarged by the picturesque situation 
of Balboa — 

"Silent on a peak in Darien?" 

The aim has been to make this a school-book for the 
teaching of Western history. The mechanical forms of 
numbered paragraphs and questions have not been intro- 
duced, because the progressive teacher desires to avoid 
the formality of the average text-book. 

An effort has been made to teach history on the prin- 
ciple of correlation. For this purpose the geography of 
the West and Southwest Coast should be given special 
emphasis. 

Myths, legends, and inaccurate descriptions have been 



avoided. Sufficient authorities and original documents 
have been consulted so that impartial statements could be 
made. 

On the pedagogical basis, that knowledge of the child 
should be builded on the foundation of facts that lie 
nearest to it, this book should have preference over the 
history stories of other lands. 

The story of Fremont and the account of "Old Califor- 
nians" were written by Joaquin Miller. 

Topics for school composition may be taken from the 
different stories. The pupil will not then be puzzled for 
material, and there will be plenty of opportunity for orig- 
inal suggestions and descriptive writing. 

Teachers will use different methods; but all teachers 
who desire to be successful will use the blackboard, the 
globe, maps, and drill on new words. 

Carlyle, in his advice to his nephew, said in reference 
to history: "Never read any such book without a map 
beside you; endeavor to seek out every place the author 
names, and get a clear idea of the ground you are on; 
without this you can never understand him, much less 
remember him. Mark the dates of the chief events and 
epochs; write them; get them fixed into your memory — 
chronology and geography are the two lamps of history." 

Harr Wagner. 



A KEY FOR PRONOUNCING WORDS OF SPANISH 
DERIVATION. 

A thorough drill on the following sounds will be helpful. 
The children of the Pacific Coast are required to use 
many foreign words. In pronunciation of Spanish words — 

give a the sound of ah; 

give e the sound of ay; 

give / the sound of ee; 

give j the sound of h; 

give the sound of oh; 

give u the sound of oo; 

h is silent; 

// is sounded like lyli, like the // in million; 

h is sounded like ny in lanyard; 

hita is sounded like li'a in water. 



SOME NOTABLE VOYAGES, DISCOVERIES 

AND EVENTS 

1492 — Columbus discovers certain West Indian Islands. 

1497 — John Cabot discovers land in the vicinity of the 

Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
1498 — Vasco de Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope. 
1499 — Amerigo Vespucci discovers the northern coast 

of South America. 
1513 — Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean. 
1513 — Ponce de Leon discovers Florida. 
1519 — Cortez conquers Mexico. 

1519 — Magellan makes first trip around the world. 
1531 — Pizarro conquers Peru. 
1539 — Hernando de Soto fits out his expedition. 
1540 — Coronado discovers the Colorado. 

1542 — Cabrillo sails along the coast of California and 

into San Diego Bay. 
1579 — Sir Francis Drake discovers Drake's Bay. 
1749 — Junipero Serra leaves ]\Iexico to begin his work 
1770 — Portola's party discovers Bay of San Francisco. 
1849 — Gold discovered by Marshall. 
1852 — California admitted into the Union. 
1906 — The Great Fire. 

1915 — The Completion of the Panama Canal, and the 
Exposition. 




BaiDoa TaKinj, Pu.s....... o. ...c Pacific Oce.. ._.: islands and 

Firm Lands, and All the Shores Washed by Its Waves. 



THE STORY OF HOW BALBOA DISCOVERED THE 
PACIFIC. 




HEN Balboa was a little boy, he 
lived in Spain. He was seventeen 
years of age when Columbus discov- 
ered America. He was a poor boy, 
and worked for a deaf man, the lord 
of Moguer. 

One day a stranger came to the place and told him 
about the great deeds of Columbus and the won- 
derful land he had discov- 
ered. The stories about the 
new world filled Balboa with 
a desire to visit unknown 
lands. 

To think, with him, was 
to act. In a short time he 
found himself in Hayti, then 
known by the musical Span- 
ish name, Hispaniola. He 
tried farming, but with no 



Reference Topics. 

The Barrel Iuei<leut. 

Balboa's 3Iarriagre to 
the ludian Chief's 
Daughter. 

Life in Darieu. 

The First Meutiou of 
the Western Sea. 

First Sight of the 
Pacific Ocean. 

Balboa Talves Posses- 
sion, Sept. 29, lol.t. 

Death of Balboa. 



15 



16 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

great success. He produced more debts than any- 
thing else, and debts were as much trouble then 
as now. 

In order to avoid the people he owed, he hid 
himself in a barrel. It was rolled on board a ship. 
When the captain, Encisco, found him, the ship 
was too far out at sea to put him off. The captain 
was angry; but Balboa smiled and said: 'T know 
a country where there is a lot of gold. I'll take 
you to it." 

The captain, seeing that he was a brave, hand- 
some young man, decided to make use of him. On 
the advice of Balboa, Encisco sailed for Darien. 

The sailors liked Balboa better than they did 
their captain ; so they chose him for their leader, 
and sent Encisco back. 

Balboa became friendly with the native chiefs. 
One day two natives came into his camp, dressed in 
the skins of wild beasts. They told him about the 
"Great Water" on the other side of the mountain, 
and of the land of gold, afterward known as Peru. 
They said that an Indian chief \\'ho lived near by 
had much gold. 

Balboa and his men made the chief a prisoner 
and robbed him of his gold. The chief, however, 
wanted to be friendly, and so oft'ered Balboa his 
daughter in marriage. He also led him to a place 



HOW BALBOA DISCOVERED THE PACIFIC 17 

where was a village. They found plenty of food 
and a fine drink made from palm-juice, which the 
Indians called "Tuba." 

The chief had a son who gave Balboa gold. It 
was divided among the men. Balboa kept a share 
for his red dog with the black snout, called "Little 
Lion." 

The men fought about their share of gold. The 
young chief parted them, and said : "You fight 
about such stuff ; for this you make us slaves and 
burn our towns. Beyond the mountains is a great 
sea. The rivers that run into it are filled with 
gold; the people drink from golden cups." 

Balboa had heard about the big sea and the gold 
many times before. lie made up his mind that he 
would cross the high mountain and find out if the 
stories he heard were true. 

He took w^ith him about two hundred men,* a 
lot of bloodhounds, including his favorite "Little 
Lion," and Indians. On the 6th of September, 1513, 
he began his march to the sea. It was a hard trip. 

Darien, now known as the Isthmus of Panama, 
has seen the wrecks of many lives of people who 
have tried to cross it since that time. On the 
eastern coast it is full of sandy marshes; farther 

* Pizarro, who afterwards conquered Peru, was with Balboa on this 
journey. 



18 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



inland dried and perished vegetation stands, like 
skeleton sentinels, above the green of the under- 
brush, which is protected from the fiery hot sun by 
its own denseness. The silent hotness of the place 




In the Swamps of Darien. 



is great. Xo song of bird is heard. It is like the 
twilight stillness of a country lane before sound of 
cricket rasps the ear. 

Through the hot glare of the sun and the lan- 
guorous heat of the marshes marched Balboa and 
his men, clad in clumsy armor. At night the 



HOW BALBOA DISCOVERED THE PACIFIC 19 

swamps were full of pests ; big snakes fell from 
the trees on the men ; monkeys chattered in the 
trees ; weird, strange birds, with beautiful feathers, 
screeched ; the wild tiger growled ; fever lurked in 
the air ; even the palm-trees were covered with 
poisonous vines. 

At last they came to the foot of a high mountain. 
Porque, a chief, with one thousand men, met Bal- 
boa. He said: ''What do you want? I will kill 
every one of you if you try to cross my path." 
Balboa was not afraid and marched right on. 

Porque and his men tried to stop him with their 
big war-whoops. When the Spaniards fired their 
guns and let loose their bloodhounds, many of the 
Indians were killed. 

Balboa and sixty of his men now started to climb 
the mountain. The bushes were so thick the men 
had to cut paths with their sabers. At last Balboa 
reached the top of the mountain. He stood, as 
Keats said of Cortez, — 

"Silent upon a peak in Darien." 

Before him was a great ocean. He would be the 
first to see it. It would bring him great glory. 
Who can picture the joy in his heart as he beheld 
the Southern sea, the mightiest ocean of the globe, 
its white foam fringing more than half the world. 
With the majesty of the ocean before him and the 



20 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

majesty of God above him, he turned his eyes from 
one to the other and in silence prayed. 

As the men came up, Balboa said : "There, my 
friends, is the reward of your labors. You are the 
first Christians to behold that sea !" The men 
shouted for joy. They built a cross and piled 
stones around it. 

They carved the name of the ruler of Spain on 
the big trees. Then Balboa, in a loud voice, said : 
'T take possession of the Southern sea, with all its 
Islands and firm lands, and all the shores washed 
by its waves." A paper was then drawn up and 
signed l)y each man, telling how they were the first 
to see the big ocean. 

The Indians did not know why Balboa was so 
interested about it. It is doubtful if Balboa himself 
knew that the knowledge he gained would change 
the map of the world. 

He wanted to touch the water with his hands. 
It was on the 29th of September, St. Michaers day, 
151v3, that he sat down upon a grassy slo])e and 
waited for the return of the tide. 

When the sand was covered one or two feet, Bal- 
boa, dressed in his armor, holding his sw^ord and a 
banner, with the Virgin and Child on one side, and 
on the other the arms of Spain, marched into the 
water. He read to the waves and the silences quite 
a long speech, using large words. 



HOW BALBOA DISCOVERED THE PACIFIC 21 

He claimed that the sea was his, and all the 
islands and all the lands the waters touched, upon 
the belief that "finders are keepers,'' and took pos- 
session of everything in sight in the name of the 
sovereign of Spain. He declared that he was able 
to fight all the other nations on the face of the 
earth. It was a big speech. 

Balboa did not name the sea the Pacific Ocean. 
It was not known by that name until some years 
afterward, when Magellan sailed through the 
"Straits of Eleven Thousand Virgins," now known 
by his name, and found a smooth, placid sea; and 
he gave it the name Pacific, which means calm, 
peaceful. 

There is but little more to tell you about Balboa. 
On his return he did a very cruel thing. They 
came to a valley ruled by a rich Indian, Poncra. 
He fled from them and left his gold. They wanted 
to know where Poncra found so much gold ; so his 
men captured him and brought him back. 

Balboa asked: '*^^dlere did you get the gold?" 

Poncra answered: 'T know not; my fathers left 
it to me." He was tortured, but would tell no 
more. Balboa then let the bloodhounds loose on 
poor Poncra, and they tore him to pieces. 

The enemies of Poncra were pleased, and made 
Balboa king; but this cruel act will always stain 
his name. 



12 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



The brave men returned in triumph on the 19th 
of January, 1514. They had been gone a little 

over four months, and 
brought back, not only 
knowledge of the new 
ocean, but gold, pearls, 
slaves, weapons, and 
cloth. 

In Europe the news of 
the great sea created al- 
most as much of a sensa- 
tion as the discovery of 
America by Columbus. 

Balboa devoted him- 
self to serious things. 
He became very popular. 
The rulers were jealous 
of him. The governor 
of Darien was a weak 
and wicked man. 

One day Balboa re- 
ceived a message that 
the governor wanted to 
see him. He had four 
hundred men, ships, and 
gold, and would not need 
to have obeyed the governor; but he was loyal. 
When he arrived he was put in chains. 



Balboa, Vasco IVunez, a 

Spanish conqueror, was born 
of a noble but reduced family, 
at Xeres-de-Caballeros, in 1475. 
After leading rather a disso- 
lute life in his youth, he sailed 
with Rodrigo de Bastidas to 
the New World. He settled at 
Hayti. In 1510, he joined the 
expedition to Darien, com- 
manded by Encisco. An m- 
surrection in the new colony 
placed Balboa in supreme com- 
mand. September 25, 1513, he 
obtained the first sight of the 
Pacific from a movmtain-top. 
The governorship of the terri- 
tories conquered by Balboa 
was obtained in 1514 by Pedra- 
rias Davila, by means of his 
intrigues at the Spanish court. 
Balboa resigned the command 
into the hands of the new gov- 
ernor, a narrow-minded and 
cruel man, and, in a subordi- 
nate position, undertook many 
important expeditions. His 
success only increased the ha- 
tred of Davila towards him. A 
dispute arose. Pedrarias in- 
duced Balboa to deliver him- 
self up, promising him protec- 
tion. In violation of all forms 
of justice, he was beheaded at 
Santa Maria, in 1517. 



HOW BALBOA DISCOVERED THE PACIFIC 23 

The governor tried him for treason, and ordered 
him beheaded. He died Hke a brave man, declaring 
that to Spain he was loyal and true. As time 
goes on, the good qualities of Balboa are remem- 
bered, and the evil forgotten. 

The brave men of the sixteenth century had hard 
fates — Balboa and Raleigh beheaded ; Columbus 
sent home in chains ; Cortez, neglected and in 
poverty; Cabrillo and Drake died of exposure; 
Magellan — well, that is another story, which I will 
tell you in the next chapter. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Magellan (ma-jel'lan), Darien (da're-en), Cabrillo (ka- 
brel'yo), Pacific (pa-sTf'ic), governor (guv'ern-er), Encisco 
(en-ces'co), Spaniard (span'yerd), majesty (maj'es-ty), Mo- 
guer (mo-gar'), Hispaniola (his-pan-i'-o'la), sovereign 
(s6v'er-Tn, or suv'er-in), qualities (kwol'i-tiz), isthmus 
(is'mus), Balboa (bal-bo'a). 



A 



ND ever, as he traveled, he would climb 

The farthest mountain ; yet the heavenly chime, 

The mighty tolling of the far-off spheres 

Beating their pathway, never touched his ears. 

But wheresoe'er he rose the heavens rose, 

And the far-gazing mountain could disclose 

Nought but a wider earth ; until one height 

Showed him the ocean stretched in liquid light, 

And he could hear its multitudinous roar. 

Its plunge and hiss upon the pebbled shore. 

Then Jubal silent sat, and touched his lyre no more. 

He thought, "This world is great; but I am weak." 

— George Ehot. 



By the Balboa Seas 

The golden flecee is at our feet, 

Our hills are girt in sheen of gold, 

Our golden floiver-Helds are szveet 
With Jioney hives. A tliousand-fold 

More fair our fruits on laden stem 

Than Jordan' s toward Jerusalem. 

Beneath our ancient cloud-clad trees 
The ages pass in silence by; 

Gold apples of Hesperides 

Hang at our god-land gates for aye; 

Our golden shores liave golden keys 

Where sound and sing the Balboa Seas. 

Joaquin Miller. 



On First Looking Into 
Chapman's Homer 

Miicli have I traveled in the realms of gold, 
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; 
Round many zvestern islands have I been, 
JVhieh bards in fealty to Apollo hold; 
Oft of one zcide expanse had I been told 
That deep-broii^'d Homer ruled as his demesne. 
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene 
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold. 
Then felt I like some zvateher of the skies 
When a nezv planet szuims into his ken; 
Or like stout Cortez zvhen zdtli eagle eyes 
He stared at tJie PaciHc — and all his men 
Look'd at eaeh other zvitJi a zcild surmise. 
Silent, upon a peak in Darien. 

Keats. 



MAGELLAN; OR, THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND 
THE WORLD. 




ERNAN MAGELLAN grew to man- 
hood in a quaint old town in North- 
ern Portugal, called Villa Real. 

W^hen a boy, he climbed the rug- 
ged, lofty mountains near his home, 
and hunted the wild boar, the deer, 
and other game. On the hillsides 
rew the luscious, purple grapes from which the 
famous port wine is made. 
One day, when he looked 
out upon the wide sea, the 
hope came upon him to l^e 
a captain and sail ships. 

His father, who was a 
kindly man, asked: "What 
troubles you, Fernan?" and 
Fernan answered : "I thirst 
for thrilling adventures by 
land and sea." 

26 



Reference Topics. 

Mag:ellaii'.s Boyhood. 
Services for King 

3Iauuel. 
The August 3Ioriiiug 

in 1519. 
October 21, 1520. 
On the Pacific. 
Philippine Islands. 
Death of Mag-eilan. 
Re turn of the Victoria. 



THK FIRST VOVACiL ROUND THE WORLD 27 

The father replied: "I'll send you to our good 
King Manuel. He will find some exploit for you. 
A stalwart youth like you will find merit in his 
royal eyes." 

Fernan bade farewell to his father and friends 
and appeared before the king, who received him 
with favor. It was not long- before he sailed to the 
shores of Africa and India and fought many daring 
battles in the service of his native country. 

Magellan's desire to be a great discoverer and 
sail to unknown lands led him to return to Portu- 
gal. The king was angry with him for leaving his 
post in Africa, and would not listen to his plan 
of sailing westward across the Atlantic to India. 

A man who read fortunes by the stars sent 
Magellan to Spain. King Charles was a beardless 
boy, with a short, thick form, and a head of stubby, 
yellow hair; but he was brave and ambitious, and 
he ordered five vessels to be made ready for the 
daring captain from Portugal. 

Fernan met his old sweetheart, Beatrix, in Se- 
ville. She had heard about his exploits in Africa. 
Her blushes told Magellan that she still loved him. 
Before he sailed they were married. It was with 
a sad heart that she watched the men filling the 
ships with food for the long, perilous voyage. 



28 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



ft was a warm, soft August morning in 1519, that 
the five little ships sailed from Seville, and left 
behind them the olive-crowned hills of Spain. 

Tt was nearly two months before the ships reached 
the coast of South America. The men were glad to 

get on land once more. 
They found a place 
where there were thou- 
sands of parrots, and 
one of Magellan's men 
discovered growing in 
the ground an oval- 
shaped tuber that grew 
on a root. 

The man said: 'T 
have found an Italian 
chestnut growing in the 
ground." The chestnuts 
were roasted on coals, 
and tasted good. This, 
no doubt, is the "first 
mention of the potato, 
which John Hawkins 
took to Ireland, in 1565, 
from South America, 



Mag-ellau, Fernan, or 

Fernando, was born in Opor- 
to, of good family, near the 
close of the fifteenth century. 
He served with distinction un- 
der Albuquerque in the East 
Indies ; but, King Manuel not 
rewarding him for his services, 
he went to Spain, in 1517, with 
Ruy Falero, a geographer and 
astrologer. They laid before 
Charles the Fifth a scheme to 
reach the Moluccas by sailing 
west. It was received with fa- 
vor, and he sailed with five 
ships and two hundred and 
thirty-six men. He sailed to 
the mouth of the La Plata and 
along the shores of Patagonia, 
through the straits which bear 
his name, and across the Pa- 
cific, and fell in a fight with 
the chief of the Isle of Matan, 
one of the Philippine Islands, 
April 26, 1521. His ship fin- 
ally reached home, Septem- 
ber 6, 1522,— the first com- 
plete voyage around the world. 



and is now known as the Irish potato. 

As they sailed south, they came to a place where 
the Indians were as large as giants. One of the 



THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 29 

sailors got a big Indian to look at himself in a mir- 
ror. It was so great a surprise to him that he gave 
a loud cry, and jumped back so suddenly that 
he knocked three or four sailors down. Magellan 
treated the Indians kindly, and in return was 
treated kindly by them. 

Some of the sailors wanted to return to Spain 
and created a mutiny. Magellan, with the aid of 
a few friends, captured the leaders, and gave them 
no mercy. He ordered them shot, and then placed 
his friends in command. 

On October 21, 1520, the heart of Magellan leaped 

with joy. He had dis- 
covered the Southern in- 
let ; the straits that now 
bear his name. 

When the ileet came 
to a favorable bay, two 
ships were sent forward. 
A storm arose. Magellan thought the ships would 
surely be lost, but in a few days they returned. 
The captain said: ''Praise God, Admiral, we have 
found the outlet!" 

Magellan took him in his arms and burst into 
tears. 'Ts it true? Have you seen the other ocean 
— the Western Ocean beyond?" "We have seen it," 
was the answer. Then there was rejoicing. It was 
a great day for Magellan and his brave sailors. 



"In 


the afternoon they 
unto a land 


came 


In 


which it seemed a 
afternoon. 


ways 


All 


around the coast the 
guid air did swoon, 


Ian- 


Breathing like one that 


hath 




a weary dream. 





30 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

It was decided to sail over the sea and discover 
the Spice Islands, or Moluccas. It was a daring 
thing to do, but they were brave men. So they 
sailed out on the trackless and nameless sea. 

One day he called his sailors about him and said : 
^'Comrades, we are on an unknown sea — no ship 
has ever sailed in these gentle waters. Comrades, 
I will christen this calm, gentle sea, the Pacific." 
The sea was so calm that the ship made no prog- 
ress at all for weeks. 

No land was in sight. The provisions were almost 
out. The men were attacked with scurvy. The 

biscuits were reduced to 



Alone, alone, all, all alone, 
Alone on a wide, wide sea. 

And never a saint took pity on 
Aly soul in agony. 



powder and full of 
worms. The men had 
to eat leather after soak- 

Coleridge. jj-,g J^ Jj-j ^|-,g g^^. AboUt 

— twenty of the men died, 

and others were so ill that hardly enough were left 
to sail the ship. At last they came to some islands, 
which are now known as the Philippine Islands, 
where there was plenty of food and water. 

At one of the islands Magellan became very 
friendly with the native king. It was a rich tropical 
island. Food was plenty, and he traded with the 
natives. 

Note. — "The Ancient Mariner," by Coleridge, should be read in 
connection with this story. 



THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 31 

Magellan was very religious. He converted the 
king to Christianity. 

One day he went out to fight the enemy of the 
king. It was, however, a sad day for Magellan and 
his men. They attacked the savages at midnight. 
There w^ere about fifteen hundred savages against 
Magellan and his forty-nine men. The savage king 
saw that while the Spaniards were protected by the 




A Glimpse of a South Sea Island. 

shields, that their legs were exposed ; so he ordered 
his men to strike them on their shins with the 
spears. It was a terrible battle. 

Many of the Spaniards fell lifeless at the feet 
of their foes. It was a brave struggle. Magellan 
fought like a tiger. The blood streamed from his 
many wounds. An enormous savage struck him 
a blow on his left leg, and he sank forward on his 



32 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

face. A multitude of savages fell upon him. They 
ran him through and through with their spears. 

Magellan died at the age of forty-one. He was 
a brave and heroic pioneer of the western seas. 

But few of his men lived to complete the voyage. 
After terrible hardships, eighteen men reached 
Spain on the 6th of September, 1522, in the Vic- 
toria, the only ship that remained of the gallant 
fleet that sailed away from there years before. The 
men were given a great welcome. It was thought 
that all had perished. 

Among the people that looked wistfully at the 
sailors was a beautiful woman, dressed in black, 
leading a little child. It was Beatrix and her 
daughter. 

King Charles gave to each sailor a pension. x\nd 
to the captain he gave an image of the globe, with 
the motto, "You were the first to go around me." 

A curious thing about the voyage was that by 
sailing from east to west a day was lost. But had 
they sailed from west to east they would have 
gained a day. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Magellan (ma-jel'lan), adventures (ad-ven'tures), Seville 
(sev'il, or se-vill'), mutiny (mu'ti-ny), Moluccas (mo- 
luk'kas), biscuits (bis-kits), Philippine (fTrTp-pTn), perilous 
(per'il-iis), exploits (eks-ploits). 



CABRILLO. 




ABRILLO was the first man to sail 
along' the coast of California. On 
the 28th of September, 1542, he an- 
chored in a harbor which he named 
San Miguel. The man who reported 
the voyage wrote : "A wind blew 
from the west-southwest and south- 
but the port being good, they felt 



southwest 
nothing." 

The harbor is now 
Diego. The entrance 
times called the Gates of Palm 
in the 



called the Bay of San 
to this harbor is some- 
Cabrillo remained 
harbor six days. 
The Indians came down to 
the shore and looked at the 
ship. They were very timid. 
One night, when the men 
were fishing, the Indians 
shot arrows at them and 
wounded three. The sailors 
were very careful after this. 
Cabrillo learned from the Indians that, back from 
the ocean, there were men dressed and armed like 



Reference Topics. 



Discovery of the Bay 

of San Diego. 
Tlie Indians. 
Interior Civilisation. 
Ho^v Names Have 

Been Ciianged. 
Cabrillo Sailing 

North^vard. 
Cabrillo's Return. 
Deatli of Cabrillo. 




CABRILLO LANDING AT SAN DiEGO BAY. 
34 



CABRILLO 35 

the Spaniards.' He took great interest in the 
natives and treated them kindly. The sailors did 
not want to leave San Diego Bay, because* it was 
such a good harbor. But Cabrillo was anxious to 
sail northward. 

The man who wrote descriptions of the places 
Cabrillo visited in his voyage did not use exact 
words. So the reader is not always sure of the 
ports he meant. It is certain, however, he sailed 

to San Pedro, Santa 

Monica, and Santa Bar- 
bara. Cabrillo gave long 
names to these places, 
but they are not the 
ones now on the maps. 

At Santa Barbara, Ca- 
brillo found some queer 
natives, w^ho wore their 
hair long, and had it 
fixed up with some 



Cabrillo, Juan Rodrl- 
guez,was born in Portugal. 
He sailed from Navidad, June 
27, 1542, with two ships — the 
San Salvador and the Victoria. 
On July 2d, he reached Santa 
Cruz, in Lower California. He 
sailed northwestward and ex- 
amined the coast with great 
care, especially with reference 
to its capes and roadsteads. He 
gave the present name to the 
Bay of Magdalena. The Bay of 
Todos los Santos was named 
by him San Mateo. In the lat- 
ter part of September he passed 
the Coronado Islands, and 
sailed into the bay now known 
as San Diego, which he named 
San Miguel. He discovered the 
islands of Santa Cruz, Santa 
Rosa, and San Miguel. At the 
latter place he died, January 3, 
1543. Ferrelo, his chief pilot, 
took command of the expedi- 
tion. To Cabrillo belongs the 
honor of the discovery of Cali- 
fornia. 



strings of flint, bone, 



wooden 



daggers. 



and 

They caught fish, and 
ate them raw. They also 
had good canoes, and 
were better than other 
Indians in many re- 
spects. He heard stories 



36 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

like those at San Diego, that, distant seven clays' 
journey, was a great river, and that the people, who 
looked like the sailors, had towns there. 

Cabrillo then sailed farther north. His ship 
drifted north w^est ward w^th the wind ; the weather 
was pleasant, the coast rough, without harbors, 
and off in the distance lofty mountains, covered 
with snow. 

One morning at dawn, as the sun sowed its path 
of gold across the brown hills to the sea, he saw a 
point of land covered with pines. He called it the 
Cape of the Pines. Then he sailed on and on — 
past the Golden Gate and the great harbor within, 
to Point Reyes. 

History says he turned southward, and ''de- 
scended under lofty snow-capped mountains so 
near that they seemed about to fall on them." The 
ship anchored in a little harbor at San Miguel 
Island, near Santa Barbara. One day Cabrillo fell 
and broke his arm. He was not careful with it, 
and it brought on an illness which resulted in his 
death, January 3, 1543. His dying words were: 
''Sail northward, at all hazards." 

No trace of his grave can be found ; no stone 
marks the spot where his body rests. He did not 
seem to have the pirate's heart, like Balboa, Drake, 
Pizarro, and so many other of the sea kings who 
made voyages to the Pacific. 



CABRILLO 37 

The books do not contain long" accounts of his 
deeds ; yet his services to the world will not be for- 
gotten. If monuments are an honor, then the 
people of the W^est Coast ought to erect one to the 
man who made the first voyage to California. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Cabrillo (ka-brer3o), San Miguel (san me-gel ), Reyes 
(rays), San Diego (san de-a'go), hazards (haz'erdz), 
anchored (an'kerd), Pizarro (pe-zar'ro), Santa Rosa (san'ta 
ro'sa), Santa Barbara (san'ta bar'ba-ra), Balboa (bal-bo'a). 



A H, what is this 
'^^ Old land beyond the seas, that 3'ou should miss 
For her the grace and majesty of mine? 
Are not the fruit and vine 
Fair on my hills, and in my vale the rose? 
The palm-tree and the pine 
Strike hands together under the same skies. 
In every wind that blows. 

— Ina D. Coolbrith. 



AT SAN DIEGO BAY. 

By Madge Morris Wagner 

ERE first on California's soil, 

Cabrillo walked the lonesome 
sands ; 
Here first the Christian standard rose 
Upon the sea-washed Western 
lands, 



;\nd Jnnipero Serra first laid loving hands. 



\A'hat saw they here, that fearless band, 
To bless, or tonch with loving hand? 
Or bid them pause, or dream to stay, 
Around this silent, sleeping bay? 




An acreage of many miles. 

Vast miles of sun-burnt naked space, 
Red, brown, and bare, and baked as tiles; 

Whose surface lay unchanged of face 
As it had lain, the hills among, 
Since first Creation's psalm was sung ; 

38 



AT SAN DIEGO BAY 39 

Whose people watched the squirrels play, 
And cared not any more than they. 

Not these alone, the fathers saw 

Not these made hardships doubly sweet — 
He never sees his arrow's flight 

Who is always looking- at his feet ; — 
Those holy fathers, wiser they, 

They marked the broad expanse ot plains. 
And mountains gushing crystal life 

Enough to fill its thirsting veins; — 
They saw, far off, the mingled weft 

Of colors wrought from out the soil, 
When Nature rounds upon her loom 

The laborer's legacy of toil. 

They served, and toiled, and built, and planned. 
But ever saw a promised land ; 
And heard its slowly rising swells 
Ring joyous from their mission bells. 

xA.nd decades past, and fifty years, 

A century was born and died ; 
A nation struggled into birth. 

And rose to midday of its pride. 
And freedom's war-wet staff was set 

Beside that one of love and peace; 
And suns of noons, and midnight moons. 

Unwove and w^ove time's ageless fleece. 



40 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Time crept by the mission bells, 

And back, and tied their tongues with rust. 
And touched the eye-lids of the priest, 

And garmented his bones with dust. 

The glory of the mission passed, 

Its gloom its glory overcast. 

Within its corners, shadow-walled. 

The bats made nests ; the lizard crawled 

Upon the sunny side to sit, 

With soulless eyes, and laugh at it. 

But smile not ye with scornful lips, 

Nor croak a prophecy of this ; 
There's nothing lost that's lost, and naught 

That once has lived has lived amiss. 
Nay, smile not ye, nor count that false 

Wdiich failed in promises it gave ; 
For gold is gold, though it go down 

A thousand fathoms in the wave ; 
And brighter-hued the blossom is 

That blooms upon a grave. 

In silence sleeps the bay no more — 
Its treasury of wealth is found ; . 

And all its crescent-curving" shore 
With infant cities girded round ; 



i 



AT SAN DIEGO BAY 41 

While through its 'gateway come and go 
The sails of sun and sails of snow. 

Progress to this old new West 

Has turned her face and set her seal; 
Has bound the waters, broke the hills, 

And shod the desert sands w4th steel. 
O land of sun ! — hot, splendid sun ! — 

Of sea-cool winds, and Southern moons ! — 
Of days of calm,, and nights of balm, 

And languorous, dreamy noons ! 
No seer hath need to tell for thee, 
Thy daring and thy destiny. 





Drake at the Extremity of Cape Horn. 



THE STORY OF DRAKE, THE BRAVE SAILOR. 




IR FRANCIS DRAKE was a great 
sailor. Some of his adventures were 
w^ild and thrilling. 

He was born in Devonshire, Eng- 
land, in 1539, near where that other 
brave sailor and friend of Oiieen 
Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh, lived. His cousin 
was the brave sea-captain, John Hawkins. He had 
heard many stories about the sea. 

The W'Onderful adventures of Columbus, Balboa, 
Magellan, Cabrillo, and oth- 
ers gave him an ambition tg 
be a sailor. 

One day, while visiting 
the sea-coast, he met a queer 
old man who owned a little 
ship. This bachelor sea- 
captain took a great fancy to 
Drake — and w-ell he might, 
for Drake was a brave lad. 
He made several sea trips 

43 



Reference Topics. 

Compare Drake -with 
Spanish I^xplorerN. 

John Hawkins, tlie 
Slave-Trader. 

Tlie Spanisli Armada. 

Drake on Cape Horn. 

First Religrious Ser- 
vice in California. 

The Queer Animals. 

Death of Drake. 

The Golden Hind. 



44 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



with his uld captain. 



Drake, Sir Francis, was 

born in a cottage on the banks 
of the Tavy, in Devonshire. 
His father was a yeoman, and 
had twelve sons. He went to 
sea with a neighbor of his 
father's, who possessed a bark. 
Drake fell heir to the vessel. 
While coasting about, he heard 
of the exploits of Hawkins and 
the New World. He fitted out a 
vessel, and with wild and reck- 
less spirits cruised in the West 
Indies. In 1567, he plundered 
the town of Nombre de Dios. 
He crossed the Isthmus of 
Darien, saw the Pacific Ocean, 
and returned to England, laden 
with spoils, a successful sea- 
rover. Under the sanction of 
Queen Elizabeth, Drake sailed 
for the Pacific. He sacked the 
Spanish towns on the coasts of 
Chile and Peru. Hoping to 
find a passage back to the At- 
lantic, he sailed north. He 
anchored near Point Reyes, 
and took formal possession of 
the country in the name of the 
Queen of England. He then 
sailed across the Pacific, dou- 
bled the Cape of Good Hope, 
and arrived at Plymouth, Sep- 
tember 26, 1580. He was vice- 
admiral of the fleet which 
destroyed the naval suprem- 
acy of Spain, in the Armada. 
Drake died at Nombre de Dios, 
January, 1596. 



heard stories from the 



On one of these voyages 
the old man died and 
left his ship to his young 
mate. 

It was not long after 
this time that his cousin, 
John Hawkins, asked 
him to sail with him to 
the New World. His 
cousin told him about 
the profits in the slave 
trade, and of the chances 
to get gold. The Eng- 
lish and Spanish were 
at war. Drake thought 
it was all right to attack 
Spanish ships and Span- 
ish towns, and to take 
all the gold that he 
could find. He secured 
so much gold and cap- 
-tured so many ships that 
he became a great hero. 
His men landed a1» 
Darien, where Balboa 
had been before. Drake 

Indians how the Spanish 



THE STORY OF DRAKE 45 

brought rich treasures from Peru across the Isth- 
mus. He decided to capture the Spaniards and rob 
them of their gold. 

Then, like Balboa, he wanted to see the ''Great 
Water." After traveling twelve days he came to 
the top of a hill. His Indian guide told him to 
climb a tree and he could see the Southern Ocean. 

He looked out through the leafy branches of the 
tree and beheld the smooth waters of the Pacific, 

"On whose bosom sparkled the diamonds of the sun." 
He asked God to give him life and heart to sail an 
English ship upon the unknown sea. 

The view of the Pacific made him feel that he 
would attain wealth and glory for England. His 
active brain formed many plans. The thought 
that he would bring proud Spain to the dust, fired 
his fancy. He came down from the top of the tree 
thrilled with what he saw. 

At Panama he captured a mule train loaded with 
bars of gold and other treasures. After many 
trials, he again reached the Atlantic side and sailed 
for England. 

The news of his adventures and of his gold soon 
spread through the towns. It was on Sunday, 
the 9th of August, 1573, that Drake landed in 
Plymouth harbor. 

He was now a rich man. After giving money to 



46 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

all his relatives, he still had plenty to engage in 
new enterprises. He wanted to sail to the Pacific. 
One day the queen sent for him and made him a 
present of a beautiful sword, and Drake knew that 
he had her sanction to make the trip. 

He soon had a fleet of five vessels. At five o'clock 
in the afternoon, November 15, 1577, the gallant 
fleet sailed toward the setting sun. 

After many adventures, Drake sailed through the 
Straits of Magellan, on the Golden Hind, and saw 
the cape which stood at the outlet to the Pacific. 

He cast anchor at the side of some lofty clififs 
and went ashore. He went to the highest clifT, and 
going to the outer edge he flung his arms toward 
the sea. 

When he returned to the Golden Hind, one of 
the men asked him where he had been. Drake 
replied with a proud smile, "I have been farther 
south than any man living.'' Drake left Cape 
Horn and sailed northward. 

All of his ships, save one, either met with dis- 
aster or deserted. So the Golden Hind sailed alone. 

It followed the west coast all the way from Cape 
Horn to Oregon. He believed that he could fina a 
northern passage to the Atlantic. On his way 
northward he stopped at the towns, in order to 
fight the Spanish and secure gold, silver, and food. 

Drake had with him on the Golden Hind, a chap- 



THE STORY OF DRAKE 47 

lain by the name 'of Fletcher. This man kept a 
record of the voyage. He tells in his report that the 
snow and ice could be seen on the mountains along 
the coast, and that the weather was so cold that 
Drake gave up his northern trip and returned south. 

It was in June that Drake found a harbor. Some 
say that it was the Bay of San Francisco. But it is 
more than likely that he sailed by the Golden Gate, 
not dreaming that within its portals was one of the 
finest harbors in the world. 

He anchored at what is known as Drake's Bay, 
near Point Reyes. The Indians came down to the 
ship, and treated the sailors very kindly, regarding 
them with awe. The ship remained over one month 
at this place. It was repaired and a new supply of 
water and food secured. 

Chaplain Fletcher here held the first religious 
service in California. Drake made a journey in- 
land, and saw fat deer and thousands of queer little 
animals that had tails like rats and paws like 
moles. The people ate them, and the kings had 
holiday coats made of their skins. All this is 
described in quaint old English that would be 
hard for the modern schoolboy to spell. 

Drake named all of California New Albion — 
first, because it had so many white banks and 
cliffs; and second, because Albion was the name 
often applied to old England. 



48 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Then he sailed west, and sailed, and sailed, and 
sailed, till he reached England. He had gone 
around the world in two years and ten months, 
and had secured gold and disabled many Spanish 
ships. 

Queen Elizabeth visited him and dined with him 
aboard the Golden Hind. The queen took his sword 
and said : ''This sword, Drake, might still serve 
thee. Thou hast carried it around the globe ; but 
ere we return it to thee, it must render us a 
service." Genth tapping Drake on the shoulder, 
she said in a clear voice, "Rise, Sir Francis Drake." 

He was now a knight. He had sailed around the 
globe. He had defied danger in every form. He 
had dealt terrible blows to the Spaniards. He had 
made numerous discoveries. He had returned rich, 
a conqueror, a pioneer. His exploits thrilled the 
people. 

He continued to fight the Spaniards for some 
years, winning new laurels. King Philip of Spain 
sent to Queen Elizabeth the Latin verse, which 
translated reads thus : 

"These to you are our commands: 
Send no help to the Netherlands. 
Of the treasures took by Drake, 
Restitution you must make." 



THE STORY OF DRAKE 49 

In reply. Drake foug-ht the Spanish Armada, anol 
continued to take treasures. He then returned to 
the field of his first success, and attempted to cap- 
ture Panama. His men died by the score witli 
fever. He was also taken sick ; and one morning 
in January, in 1596, he arose to go on deck, but 
fell back and died, surrounded by his men, and 
he was buried beneath the w^aters that he loved 
so well. 

The Golden Hind was ordered preserved. It was 
kept for one hundred years, but it has long since 
decayed. A chair made from' its timbers was given 
by Charles II. to Oxford University, and it may be 
seen yet — a memento of the first English ship to 
touch California's shores, and of its bold captain. 
Sir F>ancis Drake, the sea-king of Devon. 

Note.^The Prayer-Book Cross in Golden Gate Park, the gift of 
G. W. Childs, was erected in honor of Drake's voyage to California. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Englishmen (iii'glish-men), adventure (ad-ven'tur), 
bachelor (bach'e-lor), chaplain (chap'lin), San Francisco 
(san fran-sTs'co), translated (trans-lat'ed), university (u'ni- 
ver'si-ty), memento (me-men'to), restitution (res-ti-tu'- 
shun), exploits (eks-ploits'), Plymouth (plim'uth). Armada 
ar-ma'da, or ar-ma'da). 



THE MARCH OF PORTOLA. 




HE trip overland of Don Caspar de 
Portola from San Bias in Lower 
California in search of the Bay of 
Monterey, and leading to the dis- 
covery of the Bay of San Francisco 
is very interesting. The king of 
5pain was afraid that the Russians would come 

down from the North and take 

California. So he sent men 

from the City of Mexico to 

fortify the Coast of California. 

They had two ships, at La Paz. 

The San Antonio and the San 

Carlos. These two ships were 

loaded and soon set sail for 

the Bay of San Diego and 

of Monterey. The San Carlos 

as you will read in another Don Caspar Portoia 

chapter, was the first ship to enter through the 

Golden Gate into the San Francisco Bay. Portola 

50 




Reference 


Topics. 


Discovery of San 


Francisco 


Bay. 


Portola. 




Ortega. 




Moutara. 




Father Crespi. | 


The Second 


Mission. 



THE MARCH OF PORTOLA 51 

decided to lead the march 
overland. Among the men 
at San Bias were Ortega, 
Father Junipero Serra, Fa- 
ther Crespi, Costanxo, en- 
gineer, and Prat, a physi- 
cian. Portola and his men 
started from San Bias on 
May 5, 1769. He traveled over two hundred miles 
to the Bay of San Diego. 

It was a dreary journey. As they approached San 
Diego bay the native Indians came out to meet 
them, and begged from Serra his robe, and took 
from Portola everything he wore. The Indians 
had Serra show them his glasses. They were a 
curiosity, and caused him a lot of trouble before 
he could get them back. The trip took forty-five 
days. They found that those who had come by 
sea on San Carlos had camped near where ''Old 
Town" San Diego is now located. They greeted 
Portola and his men and 163 mules ladened with 
provisions with joy. The San Antonio returned to 
San Bias to tell the story of the trip, and the San 
Carlos, with Captain Vila, remained at San Diego, 
because so many of the sailors had died from sick- 
ness that he could not continue to Monterey. 

At San Diego, Portola left the sick under the 
faithful Doctor Prat, and on Julv 1-i-th started to 



52 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

March to Monterey. On July 16, 1769, Junipero 
Serra founded the San Diego Mission, the first one 
in CaHfornia. Of the forty people Portola left be- 
hind, eight soldiers, four sailors, one servant and 
eighteen Indians died. Among the people that 
Portola took with him was Pedro Amador, after 
whom Amador County is named ; Ortega, path- 
finder and discoverer of the (lolden Gate, and the 
San Francisco Bay. Alvarado, grandfather of Gov- 
ernor Alvarado of California; Carrilo, afterwards 
commander at Monterey, Santa Clara and San 
Diego, and founder of the celebrated Spanish -family 
in California. Portola had fitted out a small shi]), 
called the San Jose, and loaded it with supplies 
for Monterey. Me was, however, a careful man 
and for fear it might be lost at sea, he took with 
him one liundred mules ladened with ])rovisions. 
The ship San Jose was lost at sea. It was an in- 
teresting group of men starting to tramp over 
500 miles, without roads, trails, or paths. Mow- 
different the trip today from San Diego to the Hay 
of San I'Vancisco. Mere is the Avay Portola started 
out. You may ask how^ do we know this? Why, 
Father Crespi kept a diary, and he wrote every- 
thing down that happened each day. At the head 
lode Pages, a commander; Costanxo, the engineer; 
two priests, and six others. Then came Indians, 
with spades and axes. These were followed by 



THE MARCH OF POKTOLA 53 

pack mules in foUr sections ; the last was the rear 
guard, with Captain Rivera and Governor Portola. 
Each soldier had defensive weapons; for instance, 
his arms were wrapped with leather so that the 
Indians' spears and arrows could not hurt him, 
and then a leathern apron that fell on each side of 
the horse over his legs, to protect them when rid- 
ing through brush. Each soldier carried a lance, 
a sword and a short musket. The men were fine 
horsemen, and good soldiers. They traveled very 
slowly, not over five or six miles per day. The 
greatest difficulty was with the horses. It is said 
that a coyote or fox or even wild birds would 
frighten the horses so they would run away. The 
trip was along what is now known as the El 
Camino Real, the King's Highway. It took them 
four days to reach San Luis Rey, where the mission 
now is. They rested four days at San Juan Capis- 
trano. On the 28th of July they reached Santa 
Ana River and experienced a terrible earthquake 
shock. They crossed the Los Angeles River where 
the city of Los Angeles now stands and gave it 
its name. The city itself was not founded until 
1781, when the full name, Nuestra Senora La Reina 
de Los Angeles ("Our Lady the Queen of the 
Angels"), was given to it. They gave the San 
Fernando valley the pretty name of "Valley of St. 
Catherine of the Oaks." Portola crossed another 



54 TACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

river near where Camulos now is and named it 
Santa Clara in honor of the Saint w^hose day thev 
celebrated on August 12th. Then they marched 
on and on, across many rivers, and over mountains. 
The Indians in the rancherias welcomed them and 
gave them food, and showed them how they made 
boats and implements of ^"arious kinds. They 
passed on through where Santa Barbara now is 
and on to San Luis Obispo. Mere were many 
Indians. Their big chief had a tumor on his neck 
and the men called him and the place El Buchon. 
Father Crespi did not like the name, but Point 
Buchon and Mount Buchon, "Bald Knob," shows 
how names will stick. The men were taken sick 
and their way to the Salinas valley was rough and 
hard. Many of the men were afiflicted with scurvy, 
a disease brought on by not eating enough vege- 
tables. On the last day of September the men 
halted near the mouth of the Salinas River, within 
sound of the ocean, but could not see it. Portola 
now sent out scouts to look for the Bay of Monte- 
rey; but after a long search, and seeing the sand 
dunes and the pines, failed to recognize the bay. 
A council was called ; Portola told of the short- 
ness of provisions and the danger of winter com- 
ing on, so that all might perish. Costanxo said 
they must travel farther north. Rivera thought 
they should go and find a camp. If Montere\' was 



THE iMARCH OF PORTOLA 



55 



not found, they would discover some other place 
where they could settle. So Portola determined 
to put his trust in God and move on. Sixteen of 
the men were so sick they had to be lifted on and 
off the horses. The march was slow and painful. 
They came to a river. The Indians killed an 
eagle, with wings that reached seven feet four 
inches from tip to tip. Father Crespi called the 
river Santa Ana, but the people called it Pajaro, 
"The Bird." On the 17th 
of October they passed 
through the section where 
is now located the beau- 
tiful town of Santa Cruz. 
At Waddell Creek both 

were 

Gre- 

rain 

sick, 
the 



fSl 




Monument to Pcrtola on 
Montara Mountain. 



Portola and Rivera 
taken sick. At San 
gorio it began to 
and all were taken 
but strange to say, 
new ailments relieved the 
scurvy and they were able to press forward. They 
marched through Half Moon Bay and up along 
the coast and reached the foot of Montara Moun- 
tains on October 30th. The site of the camp is 
about a mile north of Montara Light House. 
They named the camp El Rincon de La Almejas 
on account of the mussels and other shell fish 



56 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

found there. Ortega and his men were sent out to 
find a wa}^ over the mountains. In a few days 
Ortega returned and told of seeing a great arm 
of the sea that thrust itself into the land as far as 
the eye could reach. Ortega was the first white 
man to see the Golden Gate, and the Bay of San 
Francisco, which has become so famous in song and 
story and in the commercial life of the W'est. 

Portola and his men now crossed into the San 
Pedro valley, marched over to the bay side and 
camped again near the site of Stanford University. 
After many hardships Portola with his companions 
were welcomed back to San Diego. On the way 
they were forced to kill mules and eat the tiesh to 
keep from starving. They reached San Diego on 
January 18th, and reported that they searched for 
Monterey Bay in vain. After resting until April 17, 
1770, Portola set out again for the Bay of Monterey. 
On May 24th they camped on the shores of Monte- 
rey Bay. Portola, Pages, and Father Crespi noted 
the calm and placid water, the seals, and spouting 
whales, and all said: "This is the port of Monte- 
rey." It is as reported by V^izcaino."^' 

On the 3rd of June, 1770, under the shelter of 
the branches of an oak tree, Portola, Serra, Crespi 
and the soldiers met and established a presidio 

* Vizcaino discovered the Bay of Monterey in 1602 and sent a glowing 
account of it to tlie King of Spain. 



THE MARCH OF PORTO LA 



57 



and a Mission. Portola, the first Governor of Cali- 
fornia, in the name of the King of Spain took pos- 
session of the country, and thus was established the 
first presidjo and Carmel. the second Mission in 
California. 

On July 9, 1770, Portola sailed for Mexico. He 
afterwards became Governor of Pueblo, Mexico, 
and California knew him no more. 




THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS. 




HE planting of the Cross in Cali- 
fornia is full of heroic interest. 

In the most beautiful places from 
San Diego to San Francisco, Junipero 
Serra and his followers built Mis- 
sions. After a lapse of more than a 
hundred years, they stand as land- 
marks of the devotion of the earliest pioneers. 

The founders, in the selection of sites, chose the 
most attractive places, and adopted a style of archi- 
tecture that is the basis of 
some of the handsomest 



Reference Topics. 

Junipero Serra's Over- 
land Journey. 

Bay of San Diego. 

Mission at San Diego, 

The Journey to Mon- 
terey. 

Mission Bells. 

Life and Character 
of Junipero Serra. 

The Missions. 

Landninrks of Span- 
ish Civilization. 



modern buildings. 

The buildings have the 
color and atmosphere of Cal- 
ifornia. They seem to have 
grown up out of the brown 
soil. The soft dove-color of 
the adobe walls, the red- 
brown tiles of the roof, the 
olive leaves on the trees, the 

58 



THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS 



59 



violet haze of the distant mountains, the tawny hue 
of the hills, all harmonize with each other. 

It was at noon on July 1, 1769, that Junipero Serra 
stood on the mesa above San Diego Bay. It is said 
that as he looked out across the soft wind-dimpled 
ocean and about him, his soul was filled with de- 
light, and he stooped, took a golden poppy, touched 




it with his lips and exclaimed: "Copa de oro ! the 
cup of gold! the Holy Grail! I have found it!" 

Junipero Serra, whose name was Jose Miguel be- 
fore he devoted himself to the church, had walked 
all the way from the City of Mexico to San Diego. 

The ship San Carlos had sailed from San Bias, 
and entered the harbor before the arrival of 
Junipero Serra and his companions. 



60 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



The journey overland was hard on Junipero on 
account of a painful affliction of his foot. 

He asked one of the men for a remedy for the 
ailment. The man replied, "I know no remedy; 
I am no surgeon ; I can only cure the sores ot 
beasts." 

"Well, son," replied Junipero, ''treat me as a 




n 5.n.D.,,< 



beast." The man smiled at the request. He took 
some tallow, mashed it between two stones, mixed 
some herbs with it, and applied the medicine. The 
relief was almost immediate. 

On July 14, 1769, Portola, Father Crespi and about 
sixty others started northward overland to Monte- 
rey, in accordance with instructions of Charles HI. 

Junipero Serra at once l:)egan the work of his life. 



THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS gl 

On July 16th (the anniversary of the victory of the 
Spaniards over the Moors in 1212), he erected a 
cross near where the twin palms now stand at San 
Diego. Mass was celebrated. The natives looked 
on, and across their flat faces crept an expression 
of wonder. 

One night the Indians, who were very fond of 
cloth, cut out a piece of the sails from the San 
C'arlos. They would not eat the food of the Span- 
iards for fear of sickness. This was fortunate for 
the Spaniards, as their supply was limited. 

Junipero did not succeed in converting the In- 
dians at first. 

The little l^and was attacked one night. Jose 
Maria, a servant, was killed, and several others 
were wounded. The Mission was removed in 1774 
to a spot on the San Diego River about five miles 
from the bay. Here palm-trees were planted, an 
olive orchard started, and ground cultivated. 

On November 4, 1775, eight hundred Indians at- 
tacked the Mission. Father Louis Jayme and 
several others were killed. The Mission was burned. 
The few soldiers, aided by the settlers, fought 
bravely. In the morning the Indians picked up 
their dead and wounded and marched away, and 
never renewed the attack. 

Junipero Serra sailed for Monterey on April 16, 
1770, to build a Mission. Portola, Father Crespi, 



62 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



and companions had made an overland journey 
for the purpose, but had failed to find the port men- 
tioned by Vizcaino in 1603. 

Junipero succeeded in finding" an immense circuit 
of smooth water, full of sea-lions and deep enough 
for whales. He landed, and on the morning of 
June 3, 1770, took formal possession of the place. 




Carmel Mission. 

THE Mission floor Avas with weeds o'ergrown. 
And crumbling and shaky the walls of stone; 
Its roof of tiles, in tiers and tiers, 
Had stood the storms of a hundred years. 
An olden, weird, medieval style 
Clung" to the moldering, gloomy pile; 
And the rhythmic voice of the breaking waves 
Sang a lonesome dirge in its land of graves. 
Strangely awed I felt that day, 
As I walked in the Mission, old and gray, — 
The Mission Carmel, at Monterey. 

— Madge Morris Wagner. 



THE'STORY OF THE MISSIONS 



63 



Under an oak-tree an altar was raised, the bells 
were hung", and celebration was begun with loud 
and vigorous chimes. Junipero, in alb and stole, 
asked the blessing of heaven on their work. A 
great cross was erected. 

The famous port of Monterey was in possession 
of Spain, and the royal standard floated in this re- 
mote region, the squirrels and Indians watching it 
curiously. 

The Mission was changed from the beach in 
1771 to its present location. The beautiful wild 
roses, the roses of Castile, grew all about it. The 




San Gabriel. 



64 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



Monterey cypress, the forest of pines, the Carmel 
River, the quiet crescent-shaped bay marked it as 
a beautiful spot. 




Pala Mission. 



At this place Junipero Serra was aided by new 
arrivals, and the Indians began to take advantage 
of the missions. 

The establishment of Missions at San Luis, San 
Gabriel, San Juan Capistrano. San Luis Rey, Pala, 
Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and other i^laces 
went on with great rapidity. 

When the news of the conquest of California 
reached Old and New Spain, the bells of the cathe- 
drals rang in tune with the Mission bells of San 
Diego, Monterey, and San Gabriel. 

The Missions were founded by the order known 
as Franciscans. Junipero asked of Galvez : 'Ts St. 



THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS 



65 



Francis to have no Mission?" "Let him show us 
his port and he shall have one," was the reply. 




Santa Clara Mission. 

The port was shown and San Francisco is named 
in honor of St. Francis, whose life was devoted 
to unselfish service. The city flourishes, though 
the Missions crumble into dust. 

The same years that witnessed the conquest of 
Spain in California saw war for freedom on the At- 
lantic side. 

The spirit of this work of Spain was in Junipero 
Serra. In August, 1784, he sent a letter of eternal 
farewell to the Franciscans, and prepared for death. 
On August the 28th, he took leave of his old friend, 
Palou, and went to sleep. 

The Mission bells tolled mournfully. The people 



66 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



covered his cofifin with flowers, and touched his 
body with medals and rosaries. His garments were 
taken as rehcs. He was buried at San Carlos. 





Atti^^^ 


b i 


■^^ 


^^'-:-M2.ii:m 


■^^m>-. 


mpHw "^y 




-"^^"^^Ml 



Santa Barbara. 

"He ended his laborious life," says Father Palou, 
"at the age of seventy years nine months and four 
days. Eight Missions were established, and five 
thousand eight hundred Indians were confirmed 
as the result of his labors in Upper California." 

This much was accomplished with great hard- 
ships. He limped from Mission to Mission, passed 
sleepless nights, listening to the howls of the 
coyotes, and in constant danger of an attack from 
treacherous Indians. The food was poor, clothing 
was scant, and his shelter frequently a gnarled oak, 
on w^hich hung the sacred Mission bells. His name 
is without a stain. 



THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS 67 

He followed the paths of the saints and martyrs, 
the ideals of his sickly boyhood. His work be- 
longed to a pioneer age. 

The tourist of to-day finds a melancholy interest 
in the crumbling adobe walls, the wide corridors, 
the broken tiles, the cracked bells, the odd nooks, 
and strange, weird owls and bats that are now a 
part of the deserted Missions. 



WHJmM/ 




4- 


J 


n 


M 


R\\ 'f^T 


kg 


1 


1^ 


^Ik 


3^'— Jl^^^MI 


1^^ 


W^ 


^^^iHHB 


■U 




- 


^^ 


■JHHH 







Mission Dolores. 

BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Junipero Serra (hoo-ni'pa-ro ser'ra), harmonize (har'mo- 
nize), mesa (ma'sa), San Carlos (san kar'los), surgeon 
(ser'jiin), medicine (med'i-sin), Portola (por-to-la'), Crespi 
(kres'pe). exemplars (egz-em'plais). Franciscans (fran- 
sis'kans), martyrs (niar'ters), weird (werd). 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF ALTA CALIFORNIA. 

The dates on which they were founded. 

San Diego, in San Diego County, July 16, 1769. 

San Luis Rey, San Diego County, June 13, 1798. 

San Juan Capisfrano, Orange County, November 1, 1776. 

San Gabriel Arcangel, Los Angeles County, September 
8, 1771. 

San Buenaventura. Ventura County. March 31, 1782. 

San Fernando, Los Angeles County, September 8, 1797. 

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, December 4, 1786. 

Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara County, September 17. 1804. 

La Purisima Concepcion, Santa Barbara County, Decem- 
ber 8, 1787. 

San Luis Obispo. San Luis Obispo County, September 
1, 1772. 

San Miguel Arcanger, San Luis Obispo County, July 25, 
1797. 

San Antonio de Padua, Monterey County, July 14. 1771. 

La Soledad, Monterey County, October 9, 1791. 

San Carlos de Monterey (or Carmel Mission), IMonterey 
County, June 3, 1770. 

San Juan Bautista. San Benito County. June 24, 1797. 

Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, August 28, 1791. 

Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, January 18, 1777. 

San Jose, Alameda County, June 11, 1797. 

Dolores, or San Francisco de Asis, San Francisco Coun- 
ty, October 9, 1776. 

San Rafael Arcangel, Marin County, December 18, 1817. 

San Francisco Solano, Sonoma County, August 25, 1823. 



68 




THE ANGELUS. 

(Heard at the Mission Dolores, 1868) 
BY BRET HARTE. 

ELLS of the Past, whose long-forgot- 
ten music 
Still fills the wide expanse, 
l^ingeing the sober twilight of the 
Present 
\\'ith color of Romance ! 

1 hear ycjur call, and see the sun descending 

On rock and wave and sand. 
As down the coast the Mission voices, blending, 

Girdle the heathen land. 

\\'ithin the circle of your incantation 

Xo blight nor mildew falls ; 
Xor fierce unrest, nor lust, nor low ambition 

Passes those airy walls. 

Borne on the swell of your long waves receding, 

I touch the farther past, — 
I see the dying glow of Spanish glory, 

The sunset dream and last ! 

69 



70 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Before me rise the dome-shaped Alission towers. 

The white Presidio ; 
The swart commander in his leathern jerkin, 

The priest in stole of snow. 

Once more I see I^ortola's cross uplifting 

Above the setting" sun ; 
And past the headland, northward, slowly drifting. 

The freighted galleon. 

O Solemn bells ! whose consecrated masses 

Recall the faith of old, — 
O tinkling bells ! that lulled with twilight music 

The spiritual fold ! 

Your voices break and falter in the darkness, — 

Break, falter, and are still! 
And veiled and mystic, like the Host descending, 

The sun sinks from the hill! 



THE FIRST SHIP TO ENTER THE GOLDEN GATE. 




HE ship San Carlos was the first to 
sail through the Golden Gate into the 
harbor of San Francisco. Drake, 
Cabrillo, Vizcaino, had all drifted by 
the bay locked in among the hills. 
The Bay of San Francisco was first 
discovered by Portola and his land party, who were 
looking for the Bay of Monterey. The date was 
November 2, 1769, over two hundred years after 
Drake and Cabrillo had sailed along the coast of 
California. 

It was not, however, until August 5, 1775, that a 
ship entered the narrow straits: The San Carlos 
left Monterey under instruc- 
tions to sail to the port of 
San Francisco and make a 
survey. 

Ayala, the commander, set 
sail. The ship crept cau- 
tiously along the shore. It 
was nine days before the 
men on the ship saw the 
seal rocks and heard the sea- 
lions. 

71 



R ef ereiiee T opies . 

The Sau Carlos. 
Overland Journey of 

Father Crespi. 
The Ships that Sailed 

by the Golden Gate. 
Cross on Point Lo- 

bos. 
Survey of the Bay. 
Angel Island. 
Some of the Changes 

that have taken 

place. 









mm. 







AYALA SENDING BOAT AHEAD IN BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO, 



FIRST SHIP TO ENTER THE GOLDEN GATE -JZ 

A launch was sent ahead to explore the narrow 
passage, now known as the Golden Gate. The men 
in the little boat sailed in against the fog that 
mantled the hills on either side. Ayala followed 
with his ship. At night he anchored in the bay, 
having safely passed through the straits. 

The next morning the ship San Carlos was 
moored at an island, now called Angel Island. 

It was a delightful place. The picturesque sur- 
roundings, the springs of pure water, the chaparral, 
coves, and pebbly beach gave it unusual attrac- 
tions for the sailors. 

The launch was used in sailing about the main 
body of the bay and along its outstretched arms, 
the rivers, San Pablo and the smaller bays. 

At Mission Bay, now mostly filled up and built 
over, they saw three Indians, who were weeping, or 
making noises resembling crying, and for this 
reason the cove was named 

"THE COVE OF THE WEEPERS." 

A cross had been planted by the land party a few- 
years before on the sand dunes of Point Lobos. At 
its foot Ayala ordered two letters deposited, one de- 
scribing his successful entrance to, and survey of, the 
Bay of San Francisco, the other giving notice of his 
return to Monterey, and asking that if the land 
party, which he expected, should arrive, to build a 



74 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

lire ill sight of Angel Island. The party arrived, 
the fire was lighted, but no response came back. 

These men camped by the side of a lake, and 
gave it the name which it bears to this day — Lake 
Merced — in honor of ''Our Lady of Alercy." 

The ship San Carlos had remained for forty days 
in the Bay of San Francisco. It had taken posses- 
sion, Ayala reported, of the best port of Spain. It 
now sailed out of the harbor and down to Monterey. 

Since then, thousands of ships have sailed in 
and out through the Golden Gate. Flags of every 
nation have been wafted to the breezes of the bay. 
The gate stands well guarded, but the red, white, 
and blue of ''Old Glory" floats over the Presidio 
more as a welcome than as a menace. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Launch (lanch), menace (men'es), chaparral (cha'par- 
ral), cautiously (ka\v'shiis-ly). Point Lobos (point lo'bos), 
Ayala (a-ya'la). pebbly (peb bli), Vizcaino (ves-ka-ee'no). 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 




EXERAL PIKE, who was killed in 
the last war with England while 
leading" his troops into Canada, was, 
perhaps, the first real discoverer of 
the Rocky Mountains to the south 
(1805-6), as Pike's Peak will forever 
testify, but he w^as preceded by still more intrepid 
men, if possible, aw^ay up in the far north (1803). 

Their path lay across what the Indians called 
the "Shining Mountains" and wdiat now is the 
gold fields of Montana. They 
passed within hailing dis- 
tance of the spot where Hel- 
ena, the capital of Montana, 
now stands. 

Strange they did not dis- 
cover gold ; for the great 
journal of Lewis and Clark 
speaks of quartz and sil- 
ver and signs of gold. 

This great expedition, the 
first to cross the Rocky 
^Mountains, is known in his- 

75 



the 



R ef ereiiee T opies . 



Pike's Peak. 

Ilutt'aloe.s. 

A Bear Fight. 

The River of 

AVe.st. 
The ludiaii.s of the 

Columbia. 
The First Christmas 

ou tlie Shores of 

tlie Pacific. 
The Return of the 

Party. 
IjC^vis and Clark. 
Thomas Jefferson. 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



tory as the Lewis and Clark expedition, and was 
made up of Captain Lewis, of the U. S. army, and 
Captain Clark, also of the army, and in direct com- 
mand of the men in hand, consisting of nine young 
citizens of Kentucky, fourteen soldiers of the army, 

two French watermen, a 

hunter, an interpreter, 
and a black servant of 
Captain Clark's. 

AVhen the expedition 
got to the Alissouri River 
the Spanish comman- 
dant of all that vast re- 
gion reaching up from 
what is now Louisiana, 
not having yet had offi- 
cial information that we 
had any rights there, 
refused to let them pass, 
and so the party win- 
tered at the mouth of 
Wood River. 

Now, it is but rioht to 



Levi'is, Meriwether, ex- 
plorer, was born near Char- 
lottesville, Va., August 18, 1774. 
He was a grand-nephew of 
Fielding Lewis, who married a 
sister of General Washington. 
At the age of twenty, he vol- 
unteered to assist in putting 
down Shay's Rebellion. He af- 
terwards became private sec- 
retary to President Jefferson, 
and was sent out by Congress 
to explore the continent to the 
Pacific. With William Clark 
and a company of thirty-four 
men, he left Washing'ton, July 
5, 180.3, and beheld the Pacific 
Ocean on November 7, 1805. 

Their discoveries were made 
a special message to Congress 
in 1807. Lewis was appointed 
governor of Missouri, and 
served with distinction. He 
committed suicide on his way 
to Washington, October, 1809. 



give some credit to a certain Mr. Carver, of Boston, 
as we go along, for having in some sort preceded 
Lewis and Clark a little ways ; for he left a map 
and the following note, dated 1774: 

"From the intelligence I gained from the W'au- 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 



11 



dowessie Indians, whose language I perfectly ob- 
tained during a residence of five months, and also 
from the accounts I afterwards obtained from the 
x\ssinipoils, who speak the Chippeway language 
and inhabit the heads of the River Bourbon; I say, 

from these nations, to- 



Clark, AVilliaiii, was born 
in Virginia, August 1, 1770. He 
entered the army in 1792, but, 
after four years' service, had to 
resign, on account of ill health. 
In 1803, Lewis chose him as his 
assistant in explorations of the 
continent. 

After his return from the 
journey of nearly 8000 miles, 
Jefferson nominated him as 
lieuten.ant-colonel of the Sec- 
ond Infantry, but the Senate 
failed to confirm him. Later, 
he acted as Indian agent, with 
headquarters at St. Louis. In 
1812, he declined an appoint- 
ment as brigadier-general. 
Madison appointed him gov- 
ernor of Missouri, which posi- 
tion he held until its admis- 
sion into the Union, in 1821, 
when he failed to be elected as 
first governor. He then served 
as Indian agent until the time 
of his death, September 1. 1838. 



gether with 



my own 
I have 
the four 
rivers on 



observation's, 
learned that 
most capital 
the continent of North 
America, namely : the St. 
Lawrence, the Mississip- 
pi, the River Bourbon, 
and the Oregon, or the 
River of the West, have 
their sources in the same 
neighborhood. The wa- 
ters of the three former 
are within thirty miles 
of each other ; the latter, 
however, is rather far- 
ther west." 

But, of course, Lewis and Clark were the real dis- 
coverers of the head-waters of these great rivers, and 
we must proceed with them. They were equipped 
with the steel frames of great boats, one of them 
55 feet long. Iliese frames thev finallv covered with 



78 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

the skins of buffalo sewed together, and with these 
worked their way up the Missouri, taking a whole 
year to get within hearing of the great falls. 

They carried many presents, seeds, beads, blan- 
kets, and all sorts of things that might be useful or 
pleasing to savages, and never in all their first years 
had any trouble with them. Some Indians had fine 
gardens and were very nearly civilized, according 
to the volumes of the great journal, which gives a 
daily account of everything seen or heard. Here 
is an account of a great feast there : 

"As soon as we were seated, an old man got up, 
and, after approving what we had done, begged 
us to take pity on their unfortunate situation. To 
this we replied with assurances of protection. 




The Indians Were Friendly. 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 79 

"After he had ceased, the great chief arose and 
delivered an harangue to the same effect; then, with 
great solemnity, he took some of the most delicate 
parts of the dog which was cooked for the festival 
and held it to the flag by way of sacrifice; this done, 
he held up the pipe of peace, and first pointed it 
towards the heavens, then to the four quarters of 
the globe, and then to the earth, made a short 
speech, lighted the pipe, and presented it to us. 

"We smoked, and he again harangued his people, 
after which the repast was served up to us. It con- 
sisted of the dog which they had just been cooking, 
this being a great dish among the Sioux, and used 
on all festivals; to this were added pemmican, a 
dish made of buft'alo meat, dried or jerked, and then 
pounded and mixed raw with grease, and a kind of 
ground potato, dressed like the preparation of In- 
dian corn called hominy, to which it is little inferior. 

''Of all these luxuries that were placed before us 
on platters, with horn spoons, we took the pemmi- 
can and potato, which we found good, but we could, 
as yet, partake but sparingly of the dog." 

But wdiile there was no trouble with Indians to 
speak of on this outward march, they were con- 
stantly battling with the most formidable and 
ferocious bears ever heard of. 

These were mostly the same as what is now called 
the California grizzly. But even the brown bears 



go PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

of the Rocky Mountains were terrible. Here is the 
journal's account of a battle with a brown bear: 

"Towards evening (on the 14th) the men in the 
hindmost canoe discovered a large brown bear lying 
in the open grounds, about three hundred paces 
from the river. Six of them, all good hunters, 
immediately went to attack him, and, concealing 
themselves by a small eminence, came unperceived 
within forty paces of him. 

"Four of the hunters now fired, and each lodged 
a ball in his body, two of them directly through 
the lungs. The furious animal sprang up and ran 
open-mouthed upon them, 

"As he came near, the two hunters who had 
reserved their fire gave him two wounds, one of 
which, breaking his shoulder, retarded his motion 
for a moment; but before they could reload, he 
was so near that they were obliged to run to the 
river, and before they had reached it he had almost 
overtaken them. Two jumped into the canoe; the 
other four separated, and, concealing themselves 
in the willows, fired as fast as they could reload. 

"They struck him several times ; but, instead of 
weakening the monster, each shot seemed only to 
direct him towards the hunters, till at last he pur- 
sued two of them so closely that they threw aside 
their pouches and guns, and jumped down a per- 
])cndicu1ar bank twenty feet into the river. 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS gl 

"The bear sprang after them, and was within a 
few feet of the hindmost, when one of the hunters 
on shore shot the beast in the head and finally 
killed him. They dragged him to the shore, and 
found that eight balls had passed through him in 
different directions. The bear was old, and the 
meat tough, so that they took the skin only, and 
rejoined us at camp." * 

Here, under date of May 29, 1804, we read : 

"May 29. Last night we were alarmed by a new 
sort of enemy. A bufifalo swam over from the 
opposite side and to the spot where lay one of our 
canoes, over which he clambered to the shore. 

"Then taking fright, he ran full speed up the 
bank towards our fires, and passed within eighteen 
inches of the heads of some of the men before the 
sentinel could make him change his course. 

"Still more alarmed, he ran down between our 
fires, within a few inches of the heads of a second 
row of the men, and would have broken into our 
lodge if the barking of the dog had not stopped him. 

"He suddenly turned to the right and was out of 
sight in a moment, every one seizing his rifle and 

* When you bear in mind that these reports are official, and made 
by United States army officers, who made it a point of honor to state 
things exactly as they took place, you will understand that these few 
men had a very lively time; for nearly every day they had some sort 
of adventure with wild animals. The buffalo were so numerous that 
they often had to take care to keep out of their way, for fear of being 
trampled to death. 



82 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

inquiring the cause of alarm. On learning what 
had happened, we had to rejoice at suffering no 
more injury than some damage to the guns that 
were in the canoe which the buffalo crossed." 

The whole region, as far as the eye could reach, 
up, down, right, or left, was one vast undulating 
world of wild beasts and roving bands of Indians, 
with here and there a patch of corn, and melons, 
and pumpkins along the low, sandy river banks. 
These primitive fields were tended by squaws. 

Their implements for tilling the soil were sticks 
and elks' horns, hardened in the fire. But all this 
now is a world of homes and harvest-fields. At last 
the great falls of the Missouri were reached. The 
men were now in the heart of the continent. 

It would have taken them longer to reach home 
than it would take a man to go many times around 
the world in our day. But for all their long absence 
and distance from home, they exulted in each great 
discovery, hoisted a new flag, and fired guns. 

Hear their own account of it. 

*'June 14. This morning one of the men was 
sent to Captain Clark with an account of the dis- 
covery of the falls. Captain Lewis proceeded to 
examine the rapids. From the falls he directed his 
course southwest, up the river. 

"After passing one continued rapid and three cas- 
cades, each three or four feet high, he reached, at 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 83 

the distance of five miles, a second fall. The river 
is here about four liundred yards wide, and for the 
distance of three hundred, rushes down to the 
depth of nineteen feet, and so irregularly that he 
gave it the name of Crooked Falls. 

"From the southern shijre it extends obliquely 
upward about one hundred and fifty yards, and 
then forms an acute angle downward, nearly to the 
commencement of four small islands, close to the 
northern side. From the perpendicular pitch to 
these islands, a distance of more than one hundred 
yards, the water glides down a sloping rock, with a 
velocity almost equal to that of its fall. 

"Above this fall the river bends suddenly to the 
northward. \\'hile viewing this place Captain Lewis 
heard a loud roar above him, and, crossing the 
point of a hill a few hundred yards, he saw one of 
the most beautiful objects in nature. The whole 
Missouri River is suddenly stopped by one shelving 
rock, which, without a single niche, and with an 
edge as straight and regular as if formed by art, 
stretches itself from one side of the river to the other 
for at least a quarter of a mile. 

"Over this it precipitates itself in an even, unin- 
terrupted sheet, to the perpendicular depth of fifty 
feet, whence, dashing against the rocky bottom, it 
rushes rapidly down, leaving behind it a sheet of 



84 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

the purest foam across the river. The scene which 
it presented was indeed singularly beautiful. 

Just below the falls is a little island in the mid- 
dle of the river, well covered with timber. Here, 
on a Cottonwood tree, an eagle had fixed its nest, 
and was the undisputed mistress of a spot where 
neither man nor beast would venture across the 
gulfs that surround it. 

''This solitary bird did not escape the observation 
of the Indians, who made the eagle's nest a part 
of their description of the falls. Captain Lewis now 
ascended the hill behind him, and saw from its top 
a delightful plain, extending from the river to the 
base of the snowy mountains. 

"Along this wide, level country, the Missouri 
pursued its winding course, while about four miles 
above it was joined 1)y a large river flowing from 
the northwest. The Missouri itself stretches to the 
south in an unruffled stream of w^ater, as if uncon- 
scious of the roughness it must soon encounter, and 
bearing on its bosom vast flocks of geese, while nu- 
merous herds of bufifalo are feeding on the plains 
which surround it. 

"Captain Lewis then descended the hill. He 
soon met a herd of at least a thousand buffalo, and 
being desirous of providing for supper, shot one of 
them. 

"The animal immediatelv l^egan to bleed, and 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 85 

Captain Lewis, who had forgotten to reload his 
rifle, w-as intently watching to see him fall, when he 
beheld a large brown bear stealing up to him. and 
was already within twenty steps. In the first mo- 




The Buffalo. 

nient of surprise he lifted his rifle, but, remembering 
that it was not charged, and that he had no time 
to reload, he felt that there was no safety but in 
flight. 

"It w^as in the open, level plain, not a bush nor 
a tree w^ithin three hundred yards ; the bank of 
the river sloping, and not more than three feet high, 
so that there was no possible mode of conceal- 
ment. 



86 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



"Captain Lewis then thought of retreating with 
a quick walk, towards the nearest tree ; but, as soon 
as he turned, the bear rushed, open-mouthed and 
at full speed, upon him. The captain ran about 
eighty yards, but finding the animal gained on him 
fast, decided on getting into the Avater to such a 
depth that the bear Avould be obliged to attack him 
swimming. He, therefore, turned short, plunged 
into the river about waist deep, and, facing about, 
presented the point of his spontoon. 

''The bear arrived at the water's edge, but became 
frightened, wheeled about, and retreated with as 
much precipitation as he had advanced. \>ry glad 
to be released from this danger, Captain Lewis 



-«a^^- --^sy^:' 



m^^^ 







The Highest Peak in the Rocky Mountains Where Fremont 
Placed the Flag. 



Xv 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 87 

returned to the shore, and saw the bear running 
with great speed, sometimes looking back, as if he 
expected to be pursued, till he reached the woods. 

"He could not conceive the cause of the sudden 
alarm of the bear, but congratulated himself on his 
escape, and learned from the adventure never to 
allow his rifle to be for a moment unloaded." 

Far, far up the Missouri River, in the heart of 
the Rocky Mountains, they had to walk up the 
rugged banks, and leave their last remaining little 
boats, having buried the big ones under heaps of 
stones in the river, to be used on their return. They 
found the rattlesnakes so numerous and vicious 
that the men had to bind their legs in thongs. 

Late in August they stood on the topmost reach 
of the Rocky Mountains. Bear in mind, the moun- 
tains here are now green fields and harvest-fields. 
Do not let the idea prevail that the country on the 
top of the Rocky Mountains is rugged. Strange to 
say, these mountains, unlike our Sierras, may be 
crossed easily, and almost anywhere that snow is 
not encountered. Here is the record of August 12, 
1805 : 

"They had now reached the hidden source of that 
river, which had never before been seen by civilized 
man ; and as they quenched their thirst at the 
chaste and icy fountain, as they sat down by the 
brink of the little river, which yielded its distant 



88 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

and modest tribute to the parent ocean, they felt 
themselves rewarded for all their labors and all 
their difficulties They reluctantly left this inter- 
esting spot, and, pursuing the Indian road through 
the interval of the hills, arrived at the top of a 
ridge, from which they saw high mountains, par- 
tially covered w^th snow, still to the west of them. 
The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing 
line between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans." 

After crossing the mountains, the party suffered 
terribly from cold, hunger, and heartsickness; for 
the country was, and still is, desolate indeed for a 
long distance, made much longer to them from 
want of guides and any good idea how to reach 
the navigable waters of the Oregon (now called 
the Columbia) River. More than once they had 
only horse-meat. Finally, they had to buy dogs 
to eat. 

When they got down the head - waters of the 
Columbia, to what is now the Nez Perce (Pierced 
Nose) tribe, of whom the famous Chief Joseph is 
now leader, they fared very well ; and, leaving 
their horses with the Indians, they bought canoes, 
and dashed on down the river toward the great 
Pacific Ocean. Here follows the record of the first 
Christmas ever held by Americans on the shore of 
the Pacific Ocean : 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 89 

"Dec. 25. We were awakened at daylight by a 
discharge of firearms, which was followed by a 
song from the men, as a compliment to us on the 
return of Christmas, which we have always been 
accustomed to observe as a day of rejoicing. After 
breakfast, we divided our remaining stock of tobacco 
into two parts, one of which we distributed among 
such of the party as made use of it, making a present 
of a handkerchief to the others. 

*'The remainder of the day was passed in good 
spirits, though there was nothing in our situation 
to excite much gayety. The rain confined us to 
the house, and our only luxuries in honor of the 
season were some poor elk-meat (so much spoiled 
that vvx ate it through mere necessity), a few roots, 
and some moldy pounded fish." 

The men were starving; many of them were very 
ill; but still the}- did not lose heart, but, as we shall 
see, hailed the new year with thanksgiving and 
gratitude. Here is the journal's account of the first 
"New Year's" ever celebrated under the American 
flag on this coast : 

"Jan. 1, 1806. A\'c were awaked at an early 
hour by the discharge of a volley of small arms, to 
salute the new year. This was the only mode of 
commemorating the day which our situation per- 
mitted ; for, though we had reasons to be gayer 
than we were at Christmas, our only dainties were 



90 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

boiled elk and wapatoo, enlivened by draughts of 
pure water. 

"We were visited by a few Clatsops, who came by 
water, bringing roots and berries for sale. Among 
this nation we observed a man about twenty-five 
years old, of a much lighter complexion than the 
Indians generally. His face was even freckled, and 
his hair long and of a color inclining to red. 

"He was in habits and manners perfectly Indian; 
but, though he did not speak a word of English, he 
seemed to understand more than the others of his 
party; and, as we could obtain no account of his 
origin, we concluded that one of his parents at least 
must have been white." 

Many explorations were made up the many rivers. 
At one place, where Oregon City now stands, they 
found a large Indian village, with not a human being 
in sight, all having suddenly died from some plague. 

At last their work was done. Rivers had been 
explored, valleys were measured, mountains had 
been climbed and classified, and given place on 
the maps of the republic. The men had a right 
to return. These men, who had been so long from 
home, and out of reach of all signs of civilization, 
were now "hairy men." They were clothed en- 
. tirely in the skins of wild beasts; their beards 
fell in matted masses on their breasts ; their hair 
blew about their shoulders in the wind. They 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 91 

were a wild-looking lot as they lifted their faces 
once more to the rising sun, and set out to retrace 
their steps up the Oregon River, over the Rockies, 
and down the yellow Missouri. 

All along through the journal we find such en- 
tries as these : "To-day bought three more dogs, 
and dried their tlesh by the fire to take with us." 
At one place we read of them buying twenty dogs. 
At first they did not kill them at once, but took 
them along w^ith them alive. The dogs, however, 
were too much given to getting out, so they had to 
"jerk" them. 

The Indians were, for the most part, dirty and 
thievish. Their teeth were worn down to gums 
from eating fish that had been dried on the sand; 
their eyes were red and weak from sand-storms; 
and they follow^ed the white men about like chil- 
dren, begging for a sort of eye-water wdiich Captain 
Clark compounded out of sugar of lead. 

As the party reached the Rocky Mountains on 
their return, they divided, one going up one branch 
of the Columbia (or Oregon) River, and the other 
party up the other branch, to meet at the mouth of 
the Yellowstone River, about one hundred miles 
from what is now^ the great Yellowstone Park. 
Strangely enough, they did not see or hear of the 
marvels there; and one can but wonder if they are 
not, comparatively, of recent date. 



92 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

I take pleasure in stating that these great 
explorers found no trouble with Indians on their 
outward journey; but now, as they returned and 
neared the tribes that afterward destroyed the brave 
General Custer and his men, they barely escaped 
with their lives. Here is their account of the ugly 
affair : 

"July 27. The Indians got up at sunrise and 
crowded around the fire, near which J. Fields, who 
was then on watch, had carelessly left his rifle by 
the head of his brother, who was still asleep. 

"One of the Indians slipped behind him, and, 
unperceived, took his brother's and his own rifle, 
while at the same time two others seized those of 
Drewyer and Captain Lewis. As soon as Fields 
turned around, he saw the Indian running otf w^ith 
the rifles, and, instantly calling his brother, they 
pursued him for fifty yards, and, just as they over- 
took him, in the scuflle R. Fields stabbed him 
through the heart with his knife. He ran about 
fifteen feet and fell dead. They now hastened back 
with their rifles to the camp. 

"As the Indian seized Drewyer's rifle, he jumped 
up and wrested it from him. The noise awoke 
Captain Lewis, who started from the ground and 
reached to seize his gun, but, finding it gone, he 
drew a pistol from his belt, and, turning about, saw 
an Indian running ofif with it. Lewis followed 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 93 

and ordered him to lay it down, which he did. 

"Just then the Fields came up, and were taking 
aim to shoot him, but Captain Lewis ordered them 
not to fire, as the Indian did not appear to mean 
any mischief. On finding that the Indians were 
attempting to drive off the horses, Lewis ordered 
the men to follow^ the main party, who were chasing 
the horses up the river, and to fire instantly upon 
the thieves, while he pursued two Indians who were 
driving away horses on the left of the camp. 

''He pressed them so closely that they left twelve 
of their own horses, but continued to drive off one 
of ours. They entered a steep niche in the river 
bluffs, when Captain Lewis called out, as he had 
done several times before, that unless they gave 
up the horse he would shoot them. 

"As he raised his gun one of the Indians jumped 
behind a rock, but the other was shot. He fell on 
his knees, but raising himself a little, fired at 
Lewis, and then crawled behind a rock. The shot 
very nearly proved fatal to Captain Lewis, and, as 
he was almost exhausted from fatigue, thought it 
most prudent not to attack them further, and retired 
to the camp. 

"The Fields and Drewyer had returned to camp 
and all were soon ready to leave. They knew there 
was no time to be lost ; for they would doubtless be 
pursued by a larger body of Indians, who would 



94 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

• hasten to the mouth of Maria's River to intercept 
them." 

The record of the last two days in this most re- 
markable journal of the most notable expedition that 
has ever been, perhaps, is as follows : 

"September 22. When the rain having ceased, 
we set out for Coldwater Creek, about three miles 
from the mouth of the Missouri, where we found a 
cantonment of the United States troops, w^ith whom 
we passed the day. 

"September 23. Descended the Mississippi and 
round to St. Louis, at which place w^e arrived at 
12 o'clock, and, having fired a salute, went on shore, 
where we received a most hearty and hospitable 
welcome from the whole village." 

Captain William Clark was a Virginian, born in 
1770. He was, after this expedition, promoted to 
brigadier-general, and two years later was made 
governor of Missouri. He died at St. Louis in 1838, 
universally lamented and beloved for his brave, 
gentle, and generous disposition, and his devotion 
to his great country. 

His companion in this bold expedition. Captain 
Meriwether Lewis, was also a Virginian, born in 
1774. He was private secretary to President Jeffer- 
son in 1801, and the President trusted him entirely 
in the great work on which he was sent. Jefferson 



DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 95 

wrote a memoir of the explorer and extolled his 
merit. 

He was the first Governor of Missouri after the 
return. But his mind had been greatly broken 
from long exposure, and being subject to temporary 
fits of insanity, he committed suicide two years 
later. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Interpreter (in-ter'pret-er), Missouri (mis-soo'ree), Lou- 
isiana (loo-ee-ze-ah'na), Wapatoo (wap-a-too), Sioux 
(soo), equipped (e-kwTpt'), official (6f-fish'al). 



THOU, my best beloved! my pride, my boast; 
Stretching- thy glorious length along the West, 
W^ithin the girdle of thy sun-lit coast, 

Prom pine to palm, from palm to snowy crest, 
— Charles Warren Stoddard. 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY. 




HE covered wagons were packed with 
food, goods, and articles useful in the 
life of the early pioneer. The oxen 
were yoked, and stood lazily waiting 
the driver's order. The children had 
said good-by, and, as they climbed up 
on the wagons, shouted, "Ho ! for California !" 

Then the heavy wagons started, and the Donner 
party began the long, perilous journey toward the 
Pacific. It w^as early in April, 1846, that George and 
Jacob Donner and James F. Reed formed the 
train which was to cross the plains. The journey 

began with bright hopes-. It 

was known that the roads 
were difficult; that Indians 
might attack them; tha't 
great deserts would have to 
be crossed, and roads would 
have to be found over rough 
mountains. 

These were the days of 
brave men and women. Fath- 
ers and mothers were full of 

96 



Reference Topics. 

An Emigraut Train. 

The Desert. 

The Sierra. 

Wonner Lake. 

Sutter's Fort. 

The Sufferings of the 

Donner Party. 
The Relief Parties. 
The Tourist Cars vs. 

Emigrant Trains. 
The Pioneers. 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY 97 

courage; lovers were full of hope; children were 
full of glee. The bleaching bones of cattle, and 
here and there a rude cross over a newly made 
mound, along the emigrant road, did not change 
either their courage, hope, or joy. 

Fair, young California was before these people, — 
its rich valleys, its pine-clad Sierra, its rivers and 
matchless sea. 

After the Donner party left Independence, Mis- 
souri, it was joined by others, until it contained 
between two and three hundred wagons, and was, 
when in motion, two miles in length. The great 
train succeeded in reaching Fort Bridger, a trading- 
post, without much trouble. 

On one occasion, Mary Graves, a beautiful young 
lady, w^as riding on horseback with her brother. 
They were in the rear of the train. A band of 
Sioux Indians fell in love with the maiden, and 
offered to purchase her; but the brother was not 
willing to sell. 

One of the Indians seized the bridle of the girl's 
horse, and attempted to capture her. The brother 
leveled his rifle at the savage, and he promptly gave 
a war-whoop and rode away. 

At another place a division arose among the emi- 
grants ; some wanted to rest the stock and hunt 
buft'aloes, and secure a larger supply of jerked meat. 
Others wanted to go on, for fear the grass would 



98 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

be eaten off by the stock of other trains. It was 
decided to go forward. 

At Fort Bridger, the Donner party chose a new- 
route, called the ''Hastings Ciit-off." Those who 
went by the old route reached California in safety. 

The trials of the Donner party now began in 
earnest. Instead of reaching Salt Lake in one week, 
it was over thirty days, and the stock and men were 
exhausted. The beautiful Salt Lake Valley, how- 
ever, filled them with joy, and all hoped for a peace- 
ful, prosperous journey to California. 

In crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert severe 
hardships were endured. The suft'ering of the stock 
for water was great. 

Some teamsters unhitched the oxen from Jacob 
Reed's wagons and drove them ahead for water. 
The desert mirage deceived the oxen, and even the 
men, and the cattle rushed off into the pathless 
desert and never returned — the desert — 

"God must have made it in his anger and forgot." 
The men went tramping through the sand and over 
the sagebrush, calling, "Co, Boss ! Co-o-o, Bo-bo- 
boss ! — Soo-ok, Jer-ry — Soo-ook, sook, Jerry !" 

No answer came. The loneliness of the desert 
was increased as the sound of their voices died 
away in the vast solitude. Reed was forced to 
cache* the goods in his wagons and proceed with 

* A term used by the pioneers when they buried anything of value. 



THE STORY OF THE DONxNER PARTY 99 

an OX and a cow. While the party was camped on 
the edge of the desert, it was made known that the 
provisions would not last until California was 
reached. 

It was decided to send two men ahead to secure 
provisions and return. C. T. Stanton and William 
McCutcheon decided to go. A tearful farewell was 
taken, and the two brave men rode out on the dim 
trail for California. They carried letters to Captain 
Sutter, of Sutter's Fort. 

At Gravelly Ford, on the Humboldt River, a 
tragedy occurred. In trying to ascend a hill where 
it was required to hitch five or six yoke of oxen to 
a wagon. Reed and a popular young man, by the 
name of John Snyder, became engaged in a fierce 
quarrel. 

C. F. McGlashan^ gives this account of the afifray : 

'AVhen Reed saw that trouble was likely to occur, 
he said something about waiting until they got up 
the hill, and settle the matter afterwards. Snyder, 
who took this as a threat, replied, AVe will settle 
it now.' He struck Reed a blow on the head w^ith 
the butt-end of his heavy whipstock. The blow 
was followed in rapid succession by a second and 
a third. 

"As the third stroke descended, Mrs. Reed ran 
between her husband and the furious man, hoping 

t History of the Donner Party. 



100 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

to prevent the blow. Each time the whipstock 
descended on Reed's head it cut deep gashes. He 
was blinded with the blood which streamed from 
his wounds, and dazed and stunned by the terrific 
force of the blows. He saw the cruel whipstock 
uplifted, and knew that his wife was in danger, but 
only had time to cry, 'John ! John !' when down came 
the stroke full upon Mrs. Reed's head and shoulders. 
The next instant John Snyder was staggering- 
speechless and death-stricken. 

''Patrick Breen came up, and Snyder said: 'Uncle, 
I am dead.' Reed's knife had entered his lung. 
Snyder's death fell like a thunderbolt on the Donner 
party." 

Reed was banished from the train. At first he 
refused to go; but the feeling against him was so 
strong that he yielded to the pleadings of his wife 
and daughter. He was to go without provisions, 
or even a gun ; but his twelve-year-old daughter, 
A'irginia, supplied them. 

As the train moved forward, Mrs. Reed and Vir- 
ginia would look at every little camping-place for 
a message from him. He rode toward California, 
and when he succeeded in killing geese or ducks 
he would spread the feathers about in such a way 
that it would be a message to his family, and some- 
times would leave letters pinned to the sage- 
1')rush. 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY IQl 

A day came, however, when they found no mes- 
sage, no letter, or trace of the father. Was he dead? 
Had he starved? Had the Indians killed him? 
Mrs. Reed grew pale and worried. Then, she knew 
that if she died her children might perish. With 
a brave heart she roused herself, and with noble 
devotion cared for her children."'' 

Near the present town of W^adsworth, Nevada, 
Stanton, who had been sent on ahead, returned from 
Sutter's Fort with provisions. He brought seven 
mules, five of which were loaded with dried beef and 
flour. If Stanton had not brought these provisions, 
the whole company would surely have perished. 

It was now late in October. If the party had 
pushed right on, the Sierra could have been crossed 
before the storm season. Another relief party was 
sent forward. C. F. McGlashan thus describes the 
approach to the Sierra : 

"Generally the ascent of the Sierra brought joy 
and gladness to weary overland emigrants. To the 
Donner party it brought terror and dismay. 

"The company had hardly obtained a glimpse of 
the mountain^, ere the winter storm-clouds began 
to assemble their hosts around the loftier crests. 
Every day the weather appeared more ominous and 

* Mr. Reed reached California, and returned to Donner Lake to 
rescue his family and aid the others. He lived at San Jose many 
years, a respected and useful citizen. 



102 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



threatening. The delay at the Truckee Meadows 
had been brief, but every day ultimately cost a 
dozen lives. 

"On the 23d of October, they became thoroughly 
alarmed at the angrv heralds of the gathering 




Donner Lake in Winter. 

storm, and with all haste resumed the journey. It 
was too late ! 

"At Prosser Creek, three miles below Truckee, 
they found themselves encompassed with six inches 
of snow. On the summits the snow was from two 
to five feet in depth. This was October 28, 1846. 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY 103 

Almost a month earlier than usual, the Sierra had 
donned its mantle of ice and snow. 

''The party were prisoners. All was consterna- 
tion. The wildest confusion prevailed. In their 
eagerness, many went off in advance of the main 
train. There was little concert of action or har- 
mony of plan. All did not arrive at Donner Lake 
the same day. Some wagons and families did 
not reach the lake until the 31st day of October; 
some never went farther than Prosser Creek, while 
others, on the evening of the 29th, struggled through 
the snow, and reached the foot of the precipitous 
cliffs between the summit and the upper end of the 
lake. Here, baffled, wearied, and disheartened, they 
turned back to the foot of the lake." 

Several attempts were made to cross the moun- 
tain, but without success. Realizing that the winter 
must be passed in the mountains, arrangements 
were made for food, by killing the cattle and build- 
ing shelters. The following is a description of the 
Breen cabin : 

It was built of pine saplings, and roofed with pine 
brush and rawhides. It was twelve by fourteen 
feet, and seven or eight feet high, with a chim- 
ney in one end, built "Western style." One 
opening, through which light, air, and the occu- 
pants passed, served as a window and door. Two 
days were spent in its construction. 



104 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Patrick Dolan, a brave, generous Irishman, gave 
all of his food to the Reed family, and started with 
C. T. Stanton and thirteen others to cross the 
Sierra on foot. 

Before they left, one man had already died of 
starvation. Matters were desperate. The party 
only dared take six days' ration. The first day 
the party traveled four miles, the next, six. 

They crossed the summit. The camp of the 
party was no longer visible. They were alone 
among the high snow-peak battlements of the 
Sierra. The situation was terrible. The great 
snowshoes exhausted them. The heroic Stanton 
became so blind that it was difficult for him to pro- 
ceed. The agony of blindness wrung no cry from 
his lips. He could no longer keep up with the 
rest of the company. 

One evening he staggered into camp, long after 
the others had finished their pitiful supper. He 
said little. In .the silence of his heart he knew he 
had reached the end of his journey. 

In the morning some one said to him, kindly, 
''Are you coming?" 

"Yes ; I am coming soon." These were his last 
words. He died alone, amid the snow of the High 
Sierra. 

A terrible storm arose. The people were without 
food. Unless their hunger was allayed, all would 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY 105 

die. Some one proposed to prolong" their lives by 
eating human flesh. It was decided to draw slips, 
and the one who got the longest was to die. Patrick 
Dolan got the fatal slip. No one would take Dolan's 
life. It was not necessary ; for hunger had done its 
terrible work. 

Several of the party, including Dolan, died, and 
the others lived on the t^esh of the dead until they 
came to an Indian rancheria. The savages were 
amazed. It is said that the Indian women cried 
with grief at the pitiful spectacle of the starved 
men and women. 

They were given bread made from acorns, and 
the Indians were very kind to them. But the acorn 
bread did not strengthen them. They were now in 
full view of the Sacramento Valley, in all its beauty 
and loveliness, and 3^et w^ere dying ! 

At last one, stronger than the others, went on 
ahead to Johnson's Ranch, and sent back food to 
the others. Of the fifteen who had started from 
Donner Lake, only seven lived to reach Johnson's 
Ranch. 

Word reached Sutter's Fort that men, women, and 
children were starving at Donner Lake, and Captain 
Sutter sent a relief party at once. 

The people who camped at the lake suffered the 
pangs of hunger. One of the survivors, writing, 
said : "The families shared with one another as 



106 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

long as they had anything to share. Each one's 
portion was very small. The hides were boiled, 
and the bones were browned and eaten. We tried 
to eat a decayed buffalo robe, but it was too tough 
and there was no nourishment in it. Some of the 
few mice that came into camp were caught and 
eaten. 

"Some days we could not keep a fire, and many 
times, during both days and nights, snow was 
shoveled from off our tent and from around it, that 
we might not be buried alive. Mother remarked 
one day that it had been two weeks that our beds 
and the clothing upon our bodies had been wet. 

"Two of my sisters and myself spent some days 
at Keseberg's cabin. The first morning we were 
there they shoveled the snow from our bed before 
we could get up. 

"Very few can believe it possible for human 
beings to live and suffer the exposure and hard- 
ships endured there." 

Quoting again from Mr. McGlashan, this touching 
account of Christmas on Donner Lake is given : 

"What a desolate Christmas morning that was 
for the snowbound victims ! All were starving. 
Something to eat, something to satisfy the terrible 
cravings of appetite, was the constant wish of all. 
Sometimes the wishes were expressed aloud, but 
more frequently a gloomy silence prevailed. When 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY 107 

anything- was audibly wished for, it was invariably 
something whose size was proportional to their 
hunger. They never wished for a meal or a mouth- 
ful, but for a barrelful, a w^agon-load, a houseful, or 
a storehouseful. 

"On Christmas eve the children spoke in low, 
subdued tones of the visits Santa Glaus used to 
make them in their beautiful homes before they 
started across the plains. Now they knew that no 
Santa Claus would find them in the pathless depths 
of snow. 

"One family, the Reeds, were in a peculiarly dis- 
tressing situation. They know not whether their 
father was living or dead. No tidings had reached 
them since his letters ceased to be found by the 
wayside. The meat they had obtained from the 
Breen and Graves families w^as now gone, and on 
Ghristmas morning their breakfast was a 'pot of 
glue,' as the boiled rawhide was termed. 

"But Mrs. Reed, the dear, tender-hearted mother, 
had a surprise in store for her children this day, 

"When the last ox had been purchased, Mrs. Reed 
had placed the frozen meat in one corner of the 
cabin, so that pieces could be chipped off with a 
knife or hatchet. The tripe, however, she cleanea 
carefully, and hung on the outside of the cabin, on 
the end of a log, close to the ground. 

"She knew that the snow would soon conceal this 



108 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

from view. She also laid away secretly one tea- 
cupful of white beans, about half that quantity of 
rice, the same measure of dried apples, and a piece 
of bacon two inches square. 

"She knew that if Christmas found them alive, 
they would be in a terribly destitute condition. 
She therefore resolved to lay these articles away, 
and to give them to her starving children for a 
Christmas dinner. 

"This was done. The joy and gladness of these 
four little children knew no bounds when they saw^ 
the treasures unearthed and cooking on the fire. 
They were, just this one meal, to have all they could 
eat! 

"They laughed, and danced, and cried by turns. 
They eagerly watched the dinner as it boiled. The 
pork and tripe had been cut in dice-like pieces. 
Occasionally one of these pieces would boil up to the 
surface of the water for an instant; then a bean 
would take a peep at them from the boiling kettle; 
then a piece of apple or a grain of rice. The ap- 
pearance of each tiny bit was hailed by the children 
with shouts of glee. 

"The mother, whose eyes were brimming with 
tears, watched her famished darlings with emotions 
that can only be imagined. It seemed too sad that 
innocent children should be brought to such desti- 



THE STORY OF THE DONNER PARTY IQQ 

tution — that the very sight of food should so affect 
them. 

"When the dinner was prepared, the mother's 
constant injunction was, 'Children, eat slowly ; there 
is plenty for all.' When they thought of the starva- 
tion of to-morrow, they could not repress a shade of 
sadness, and wdien the name of papa was mentioned 
all burst into tears. 

"Dear, brave papa ! Was he struggling to relieve 
his starving family, or lying stark and dead 'neath 
the snows of the Sierra? This question was con- 
stantly uppermost in the mother's mind." 

Four different relief expeditions went to the 
rescue of the Donner party. Of the ninety who 
comprised the party, forty-two perished. Those 
who survived became prominent in the history of 
California. The names of Donner, Breen, Murphy, 
Foster, Graves, Reed, Eddy, McCutcheon, and others 
of the party, are well known. 

Donner Lake, calm and peaceful among the sigh- 
ing pines, is often the scene of some tourist's camp. 
Frequently a relic of the days of '46 and '47 is 
found, and it tells a mute story of death and star- 
vation. 

The travelers in palace cars pass over the Sierra, 
near Donner Lake, unmindful of the struggles of the 
pioneers; that the white peaks of snow on w^hich 
rest the golden afterglow of the sun, were not the 



no PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

holy spires of God's eternal cathedrals, but the cold 
menace of death ! 

The pioneers have fought their last battle with 
the elements. The names of those who have won 
wealth and fame are recorded in history. Let the 
names of the others be engraved with loving sen- 
timent in the hearts of the young. The unnamed 
graves are sometimes typical of the bravest strug- 
gles, the loftiest manhood, and noblest sentiment. 
The race of pioneers is passing aw^ay. Let us cher- 
ish their deeds and their strength. It will soon 
be written— 'THE LAST PIONEER." 

BLACKBOARD WORDS. 
Sierra (se-er'ra), route (root, or rout), Sutter (sut'er), 
rancheria (ran'che-re'a), survivors (sur-viv'ers), provisions 
(pro-vizh'uns), exhausted (egz-awst'ed), destitute (des'ti- 
tut), injunction (in-junk'shun), baffled (baf'f'ld). 




The Emigrant Trains. 



THE BEAR-FLAG REPUBLIC. 




T sunrise on June 11, 1846, thirteen 
men left Fremont's camp at the 
Buttes, near the mouth of the Feather 
River. They were armed with rifles 
and pistols. They crossed the Sacra- 
mento River and made their way to 
Gordon's Ranch on Cache Creek. 

Gordon gave the men a bullock, which they killed 
and roasted over a big fire. The men had a fine 
supper. They traveled all night. The next day 

. nineteen men joined them. 

They rode down into the 
Sonoma Valley one dark 
night and surrounded the 
California settlement, and 
captured the people. 

At this time the Mexicans 
were called the Californians, 
and the Eastern people who 
had settled in this land 



Reference Topics. 



The Buttes. 
General Vallejo. 
Fremont. 
Kit Carsou. 
The Bear Flag. 
Captain Stoneman. 
Lieutenant Derby. 
Sonoma. 



ere called Americans. 



Ill 



112 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



Eastern people who had settled in this land were 
called Americans. 

Sonoma is a small town, but it has played an im- 
portant part in the history of California. On June 




■ '-4 



Sonoma, 1850. The Northern Outpost of Spanish Settlement in California. 
A Mission and Military Presidio Was Established, 1823. 

14, 1846, there was a Mission, a few adobe houses, 
barracks, plaza, residence of General Vallejo, the 
house of Jacob Leese, which was used in after years 
as the headquarters of Colonel Joe Hooker, Major 
Phil Kearny, Captain Stoneman, Lieutenant Derby, 
and others knowm to fame. 

At daybreak on June 14th, thirty-two men sur- 
rounded A^allejo's house. He was roused from his 



THE BEAR-FLAG REPUBLIC 



113 



bed and taken prisoner. He said: ''I surrender, 
because I am without a force to defend me. I ask 
time to dress." 

When he was told that no harm was intended, 
wine was given to the men. The men who went in 
to capture V^allejo stayed so long- that those on the 




General M. G. Vallejo. 

outside sent a man named Ide to ascertain the 
cause of delay. He found that they were having a 
merry time. Ide came out and reported. 

Then a demand was made that the prisoners be 



114 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

taken to Fremont's camp in the Sacramento Valley. 
Grigsby, one of the men, asked : "What are the 
orders of Fremont?" No one could answer. It 
seemed that no orders existed. A scene of wild 
confusion ensued. One swore he would not remain; 
another said, "AVe'll all have our throats cut." 

There was a move to quit the scheme, when Ide 
stepped up and said : "The Americans have not 
been treated right. The Californians have told us 
to leave or die. We must protect ourselves. I will 
not run, like a coward. If we do not succeed, we'll 
be nothing but robbers or horsethieves. We must 
succeed." 

The speech made the men rally around Ide, who 
was chosen the leader. "Now, take the fort !" he 
said. It was taken without a gun being fired, and 
the post at Sonoma was captured, with eighteen 
prisoners, nine brass cannons, two hundred and fifty 
guns, and a thousand dollars' worth of property. 

Vallejo and three other prisoners were sent to 
Fremont's camp. The first thing the Americans 
needed was a flag. It did not take long to produce 
one. A piece of coarse white cloth, about two 
yards long and one 3'ard wide, was used. A narrow 
strip of red woolen stuff from an old flannel shirt 
was sewed around its edges. 

"There ought to be a bear on the flag," said one 
of the men; and John Todd drew a large single 



THE BEAR-FLAG REPT^BLIC 



115 



star and a queer-shaped animal, which he called a 
grizzly bear. Below the figures were the words 




The flag was then run up on the pole where be- 
fore had floated the Mexican colors. Rules of order 
and discipline were adopted. Ide again made a 
speech to the Californians. in which he said: "We 
do not intend to rob you or deprive you of liberty. 
W'q want equal justice to all men." It was the 
purpose of the republic to overthrow tyranny and 
work for the rights of all. 

The first night, it was decided to issue a declara- 
tion of freedom. Ide had taught a village school 
in Ohio, and knew something of text-books and 



116 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

politics. In the silent hours of the night, from one 
o'clock until four, he wrote the new declaration. It 
was written in the glow of enthusiasm. 

The new republic w^as to have civil and religious 
liberty. It would foster industry, virtue, literature, 
commerce, farming, and manufacture. It asked the 
favor of Heaven and the help and wisdom and good 
sense of the people of California. 

Connected with the Republic were two terri1)le 
incidents. Two Americans, named Cowie and 
Fowler, were lassoed, dragged, tied to trees, and cut 
to pieces by their captors, the Californians. This 
took place near the present town of Healdsburg. 

The other event was the shooting of three Cali- 
fornians, who were captured by Ford. Papers were 
found in their boots which were to mislead the 
Americans. The men were shot, though they threw 
away their guns and begged for life. 

Kit Carson, who has figured in the song and 
story of the ^^'est, was with the Americans when 
this occurred. 

There was now war in the air. Castro, a leader 
of the Mexicans, with an armed force, was on his 
way to recapture Sonoma ; and it was said that 
he would put to death every man, w^oman, and 
child, except Ide, who was to be tortured like a 
beast. 

One night the little band of x\mericans expected 



THE BEAR-FLAG KEPIBLIC 117 

an attack. There was the tramp of horses. It was 
four o'clock — the darkest hour — just before the 
dawn. Every man was at his post. The cannons 
^vere ready. The signal was that when Ide dropped 
his gun, the men w^ere to fire. 

Nearer and nearer came the tramp of soldiers. 
Ide, with a new light in his e3'e, was about to drop 
his gun. The same moment Kit Carson's voice 
rang out, "My God, they are going to fire!" Then 
the shout, '"Tis Fremont ! 'tis Fremont !" broke 
out in the fort, and Fremont came wildly dash- 
ing up. 

Two days after his arrival the American dag was 
raised at Monterey, and when the news reached 
Sonoma, the Bear Flag was hauled down and the 
Stars and Stripes run up. 

The Bear-flag revolution was at an end. Its flag 
was formerly in the Pioneer Hall, San Francisco, 
but was destroyed in the great fire of 1906. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Cache (kash), lieutenant (lu-ten'ant), scheme (skem), 
literature (lit'er-a-ture), Vallejo (val-ya'ho), tyranny (tir'- 
an-ni), Kearny (kar'ni). 



THE AMERICAN FLAG IN CALIFORNIA. 




PIE story about raising the flag at the 
Golden Gate can be told in a feu- 
words. Away down the coast at 
A'lazatlan was a war-ship, com- 
manded by John D. Sloat. The sail- 
ors heard about the Mexicans fight- 
ing General Taylor over on the Rio Grande. They 
wanted to do some fighting themselves. 

In June, 1845, Sloat received from George Ban- 
croft, Secretary of the Navy, a secret letter. The 
orders were to blockade the Mexican ports, but first 
to sail through the Golden Gate and take possession 
of the port of San Francisco. He was told to treat 
all the people of California in the most friendly 

manner possible. 

On May 13, 1846, Bancroft 
wrote that Congress had de- 
clared war against Mexico, 
and ordered Sloat to take 
possession at once of San 
Francisco, Monterey, and as 
many other Mexican ports 
as he could. But of San 

118 



R ef erenee T opics . 

The American P^lag-. 

Conimoflore Sloat. 

Georft'e Bancroft, His- 
torian, and Secre- 
tary of tlie Navy. 

July 6, 1S46. 

Sloat's Instruction to 
His Men. 

The Presidio. 



THE AMERICAN FLAG IN CALIFORNIA II9 

Francisco he said: "Take it without fail." His ship 
sailed into the Bay of Monterey on the second of 
July. He soon learned about the Bear-flag revo- 
lution. There were two English war-ships in the 
bay. He was afraid of them. It was several days 
before he decided to raise the American flag at 
Monterey. 

Sloat said : "I'd rather be blamed for doing too 
much, than doing too little." He demanded the 
surrender of the Mexican fort, and was referred 
to General Castro. Two hundred and fifty men 
then marched up, and without the firing of a gun 
pulled down the Mexican flag and hoisted in its 
place "Old Glory." This was on the 6th of July, 
1846. 

As it floated its starry folds to the breeze, the 
men gave a mighty cheer. Twenty-one guns w^ere 
fired as a salute to the flag; and from that moment 
in law Mexican rule ceased and California became 
a part of the United States. 

Commodore Sloat said to the sailors : "Do not tar- 
nish the hopes of bright success by doing any act 
that you'd be ashamed to acknowledge before your 
God or country. Treat the people friendly, and oft'er 
no insult or oflfense to any one, particularly women." 

In a few days the American flag floated over 
Sutter's Fort, Sonoma, and Bodega Bay ; and in the 
country north and south it was hailed ^^'ith delight. 



120 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

It was on July 9, 1846, that Commodore Mont- 
gomery, with seventy men, marched to the plaza of 
San Francisco, then called Yerba Buena, and, amid 
the cheers of the people, hauled down the Mexican 
colors and raised our country's flag. 



^^yp 








Governor Alvarado's House, Monterey, Then the Capital of California. 

On the same afternoon Lieutenant Missroon, with 
a few men, went to the fort at the Presidio. He 
found it deserted. The old Spanish cannons, cast 



THE AMERICAN FLAG IN CALIFORNIA 121 

several centuries ago, and some small iron guns, 
spiked and useless, were exposed to the weather. 
The old adobe walls were crumbled and the old tile 
roofs tumbled in. 

"Old Glory" was hoisted on the ramparts, and 
has since kept a sleepless watch and ward over the 
Golden Gate. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Rio Grande (re'o gran'de), salute (sa-lut'), Mazatlan 
(ma-sat'lan), Yerba Buena (yer'ba bwa'na), Presidio (pra- 
se'de-o), acknowledge (ak-nol'ej), Bodega (bo-da'ga), ram- 
parts (ram'parts), commodore (kom'mo-dor), hoisted 
(hoist'ed), tarnish (tar'nish), referred (re-ferd'), revolution 
(rev-o-lu'shnn). 




THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 




OLD, gold, gold! Have you ever 
seen it in the sand or in the rocks? 
The first man to see gold in the sand 
of California was James W. Marshall. 
The story of how he found the yel- 
low pebbles will interest you. 
He had built houses, also saw-mills and grist- 
mills. Lumber was very high in California at that 
time; so he thought it would be a good scheme to 
build a saw-mill. He got John A. Sutter, a Swiss, 
who built Sutter's Fort, now owned by the Native 
Sons of the Golden A\"est, to furnish him some 
money and food. 

^Marshall started off in search of a site upon which 

to build a mill. He found 

one on the north fork of the 
American River, at a place 
now known as Coloma. 

Ox-teams, carts, pack-ani- 
mals, tools, and food were 
on the grounds in a few 
days, and the mill was up on 
the 15th of January, 1848. 



Reference Topics. 

The Building: of the 
Mill, Jan. 15, 1848. 

The Test of the Gold. 

Sutter^s Ring. 

James Buchanan. 

The Gold Excite- 
ment. 

Marshall 's Moun- 
ment. 



122 



THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD 



123 



Sutter furnished the money and Marshall the expe- 
rience. When the mill was ready to run, it was 

found that the ditch 

which was to lead the 
water to the wheel was 
not deep enough. 

Marshall opened the 
flood-gates and let a 
big swift stream rush 
through to deepen the 
ditch. The water run 
all night. In the morn- 
ing he shut the gates, 
and went down to see 
the effect. 

He was alone. The 
swift current had dug 
out the side and the bot- 
tom, and spread at the 
end of the ditch a mass 
of sand and gravel. 
While looking at it, he 
saw beneath the water 
in the ditch some lit- 
tle yellow pebbles. He 
picked one up and 
looked at it closely. Marshall knew that gold was 
bright, heavy, and easily hammered. The sub- 



Sutfer, John Aiijs^ustus, 

was born in Baden, February 
15, 1803. He was the son of 
Swiss parents. He received a 
commission in the French ar- 
my, and became a captain. He 
arrived in New York, to select 
a location for a colony, in 
July, 1834, and located in Mis- 
souri. He joined a party of 
hunters and travelers, and, af- 
ter making a tour of New ^lex- 
ico, he went as far as Fort 
Vancouver. He sailed for the 
Sandwich Islands, and from 
there to Sitka, then down the 
coast to San Francisco, then up 
the Sacramento River, where 
he built the stockade which 
afterwards became famous as 
Sutter's Fort. He became the 
owner of very valuable estates. 
He had a flour-mill that cost 
$25,000, a saw-mill $10,000, and 
thousands of cattle, sheep, and 
hogs. 

The discovery of gold re- 
sulted in his ruin. The gold- 
hunters squatted on his lands, 
and he spent his money and 
property in fruitless litigation. 

The California Legislature 
granted him a pension of $250 
per month. In 1873, he re- 
moved to Lancaster, Pa. He 
died in Washington, D. C, 
Fune 17, 1880. 



124 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



Stance he had in the hollow of his hand was bright 
and heavy. He laid it down on one stone and took 
up another stone and hammered the yellow pebble 
into different shapes. 

The vision of millions did not dawn upon him. 
He did not know that that little pebble would peo- 
ple the land and make California leap into greatness. 

Marshall returned to 
the mill, and said to the 
man that was working 
at the wheel : "I have 
found it." "What is it?"' 
asked the man. "Gold," 
said Marshall. "Oh, no," 
said the man ; "that can 
not be." 

^Marshall held out his 
yellow pebble and said: 
'T know it to be nothing 
else." The men about 
the mill had no doubt 
read about Sir Walter Raleigh having taken home 
to England a lot of yellow clay from Virginia, and 
had little faith in the discovery. 

Marshall started for Sutter's Fort. He carried 
with him a number of nuggets in a little rag pack- 
age. Taking Sutter aside where nobody else could 
hear or see them, Marshall showed him the small 



3IarMhall, James Wil- 
y.oiif discoverer of gold, was 
born in New Jersey in 1812. 
He went to Oregon in 1844. 
He came to California in 1847, 
and entered the service of Sut- 
ter. He built a mill at Coloma, 
where he discovered gold. He 
passed twenty-eight years in 
poverty, while the State was 
being built from the gold that 
he discovered. He was never 
married, and died at Coloma, 
where he lived so long, on 
August 8, 1885. He received a 
small pension from the State, 
and the State has erected a 
monument, which stands at 
Coloma. 




Sutter's Fort, the greatest early "American" landmark of its day. In 
1841, Captain John A. Sutter, an adventurous Swiss gentleman and of 
extraordinary prominence in the "geld discovery period" of California, 
purchased the provisions and supplies of the Russian-American Fur 
Co., then in possession of small trading stations at Fort Ross. The 
Russians were being sharply watched by the Spanish governors, and at 
last decided to relinquish their hold on California and return to Alaska. 
Captain Sutter moved the purchased supplies to a place on the south 
bank of the Sacramento River, where he erected a stout fort and 
named the place New Helvetia, after his home, Switzerland. This fort 
was the first structure on the site of the present thriving city of Sac- 
ramento, now the Capital of California. 



125 



126 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

yellow lumps and said: "It is gold." Sutter tested 
it, read articles on gold, weighed it, and said that 
Marshall was right, and that the lumps were real 
gold. 

Marshall started back in the rain. The great 
white rain of California came down, but he went 
right on. Sutter promised to visit the mill the next 
day. Marshall was so excited that he could not 
wait his coming, and met him on the road. 

The flood-gates at the mill were turned on again, 
and Sutter picked up a lot of the yellow lumps, 
which he afterw^ards had made into a ring, on 
which w^ere written these words : 

"THE FIRST GOLD FOUND IN CALIFORNIA, 
JANUARY, 1848." 

Sutter wanted the discov^ery kept secret, so that 
the men who were working for him on a mill near 
the fort would not leave him and go to the gold- 
fields. A woman told the secret to a teamster, who, 
in turn, told Brannan and Smith, merchants at 
Sutter's Fort. 

Great excitement was aroused at once. Men left 
their stores, trades, and professions, and crowded 
into the gold-fields. The whole country sounded 
with the sordid cry of "Gold, gold, gold !" Houses 
were left half-finished, fields half-planted, and news- 
papers stopped because the editors and printers had 
.crone to the mines. 



THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD 



127 




Captain John A. Sutter. 

Thomas O. Larkin wrote a full account of the 
gold discovery to James Buchanan, then Secretary 
of State. President Polk called attention to the 
matter in his message to Congress, December 5, 
1848. 

People came to California by the thousands — 
brave men, honest men, brainy men, in search of 
gold. There were also many true, good women. In 
1849, there came by sea about thirty-five thousand 
people, and across the plains about forty-five thou- 
sand people. 



128 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 




A Group of Miners in the Days of '49. 



The coming' of so many people in so brief a 
space of time to a new country created conditions 
that had not l)een seen l^efore and may never be 
seen again. 

They laid the foundations of California, and gave 
it the name which it will always bear as the Golden 
State of the Union. 



THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD 129 

The little lump of gold grew to millions of dol- 
lars. James \V. Marshall, the discoverer, lived to be 
an old man. The State gave him money in his 
old age, and when he died erected a monument to 
him. It stands at Coloma, in sight of the historic 
old mill. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Sutter (sut'er). experience (eks-pe'ri-ens), substance 
(sub'stans), nuggets (nug'gets), sordid (sordid), secre- 
tary (sec're-ta-ri), historic (his-tor'ik), editors (ed'i-ters), 
Virginia (ver-gin'i-a). 



"49." 

We have worked our claims, 
We have spent our gold, 
Our barks are astrand on the bars; 
We are battered and old, 
Yet at night we behold 
Outcroppings of gold in the stars. 

CHORUS: 
Tho' battered and old, 
Our hearts are bold. 
Yet often do we repine; 
For the days old. 
For the days of gold, 
For the days of forty-nine. 
— Joaquin Miller. 



WHO NAMED THE GOLDEN GATE? 




HE entrance to the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco has always been the delight of 
the poet. It has been pictured in song 
during the last fifty years as fre- 
quently as Mount Parnassus itselt. 
The strait between the sea and 
the bay is picturesque. Mt. Tamalpais stands on 
one side, Sutro Heights on the other, and the 
wild sea dashes its foam against the rugged rocks. 
It makes a picture worthy the inspired fancy 
of the poet. 

The view of the Golden Gate is always beautiful. 
As the sun dips into the sea and shines back 
through the Golden Gate the picture is sublime. 

The strait is one mile wide at its narrowest 
point, and five miles long from sea to bay. 

John C. Fremont, in his book, ''Memoirs of My 
Life," writes: "To this gate I gave the name of 
Chrysophylae or Golden Gate, for the same reasons 
that the harbor of Byzantium (Constantinople) was 
named the Golden Horn (Chrysoceras)." 

The name was suggested to him by the beauty of 
the sunset, the gatelike entrance to the bay, and 
the value of the harbor for the commerce of the 
world. He put the name on the map that was sent 
to the Senate of the I'nited States, in June, 1(S48. 

130 



THE GOLDEN GATE. 

Madge Morris Wagner. 

DOWN by the side of the Golden Gate 
The city stands : 
Grimly, and solemn, and silent, wait 
The walls of land. 
Guarding its door as a treasure fond; 
And none may pass to the sea beyond, 
But they who trust to the king of fate 

And pass through the Golden Gate. 
The ships go out through its narrow door. 
White-sailed and laden with precious store; 
White-sailed and laden with precious freight 
The ships come back through the Golden Gate. 
The sun comes up o'er the eastern crest, 
The sun goes down in the golden West, 
And the East is West, and the West is East, 
And the sun from his toil of day released, 
Shines back through the Golden Gate. 

Down by the side of the Golden Gate — 

I'he door of life, — 
131 . 



132 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Are resting our cities, sea-embowered, 
White-walled, and templed, and marble-towered, — 

The end of strife. 
The ships have sailed from the silent walls, 
And over their sailing the darkness falls : 
Oh, the sea is so dark, and so deep and wide ! 
Will the ships come back from the farther side? 
"Nay, but there is no farther side," 
A voice is whispering across the tide — 
''Time itself is a circle vast. 
Building the future out of the past ; 
For the new is old, and the old is new. 
And the true is false, and the false is true, 
And the West is East, and the East is West, 
xA.nd the sun that rose o'er the eastern crest. 
Gone down in the West of his circling track, 
Forever and ever is shining back 

Through the Golden Gate of life." 

O Soul ! thy city is standing down 

By its Golden Gate; 
Over it hangs the menacing frown 

Of the king of fate. 
The sea of knowledge, so near its door, 
Is rolling away to the farther shore — 

The Orient side, — 
And the ocean is dark, and deep, and wide ! 

But thy harbor, O Soul ! is filled with sails, 



THE GOLDEN GATE i^^ 

Freighted with messages, wonder-tales, 
From the lands that swing in the sapphire sky, 
Where the gardens of God in the ether lie. 
If only thy blinded eyes could see. 
If only thy deaf-mute heart could hear, 
The ocean of knowledge is open to thee, 
And its Golden Gate is near! 

For the dead are the living — the living the dead, 

And out 6f the darkness the light is shed; 
And the East is West, and the West is East, 
And the sun, from his toil of day released. 
Shines back through the Golden Gate. 



THE STORY OF FREMONT. 




E wore the white flower of a blame- 
less life." This ideal hero of Amer- 
ica was born in South Carolina dur- 
ing the War of 1812-13, of an old 
and honored French family. 

He seems to have been born a 
student and a scholar; for we find 
him, while yet a boy, teaching mathematics on a 
Government ship in Cuban waters. His studious 
and correct habits were rewarded with a lieuten- 
ant's commission ; and we next find him busy sur- 
veying and making maps of the then uncertain 
line between his own country and Canada, on 
the head-waters of our great rivers. 

Benton, the broad-minded 
and brave senator of Mis- 
souri, had been a colonel 
under General Jackson in 
the late war with England ; 
and it would seem he never 
quite laid down his sword, 
but kept his eye on the Brit- 
ish Lion to the north to the 
end of his life. 

134 



Reference Topics. 

Senator Benton. 
The British Lion. 
Fremont the Student. 
Fremont the Explorer. 
Kit Carson. 
California's First U. 

S. Senator. 
Fremont, Candidate 

for President. 
Fremont's Death. 



THE STORY OF FREMONT 



135 



Carson, Kit (Christo- 
l>licr), hunter and soldier, 
was born in Kentucky, Decem- 
ber 24, 1809. When he was fif- 
teen, he was apprenticed to a 
saddler, but two years later 
became a trapper, roaming 
over the plains between the 
Kocky Mountains and the Pa- 
cific Ocean. For sixteen years 
his rifle supplied every parti- 
cle of food on which he lived. 
In 1842, after the death of his 
Indian wife, he took his daugh- 
ter to St. Louis to be educated, 
and there joined Fremont. Kit 
Carson was Fremont's guide 
on both his exploring expedi- 
tions. He married a Spanish 
woman in New Mexico, and 
settled there in 1853. In the 
Civil War of 1861-65, he was 
loyal to the Government, and 
was made brigadier-general for 
his services. Kit Carson died 
at rort Lvon, Colo., May 23, 
1868. 



He was soon attracted by the quiet energy, pure 
life, and scientific skill of young Fremont, far up 
in the then unknown wilderness of our Western 
frontier, and when the still boyish-looking- lieuten- 
ant was called to Wash- 
ington to report, the 
great senator took him 
to his house. 

There he met. loved, 
and married Benton's 
daughter, Jessie, one of 
the most beautiful and 
brilliant 3'oung women 
in all the world. 

But there was work, 
brave and dangerous 
work, to be done, and 
Fremont must be up and 
awa}^ The great big 
paw of the British Lion 
was reaching down, 
down, down from Can- 
ada ; it already w^as laid 



on Oregon, and was reaching on down for the Bay 
of San Francisco. 

Benton stood up in his place in the Senate, time 
after time, and almost continually cried out, as he 
pointed beyond the Rocky Mountains : 



136 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

''Yonder in the west lies the Orient; yonder lies 
the path to India." 




General Fremont. 

And SO Fremont was sent to find the path, even 
before the honeymoon was well half over. He left 
his young wife at St. Louis, and there procured a 
cannon of Captain Robert E. Lee, afterwards the 
great General Lee, and always the true friend of 
Fremont, and pushed on before the snow and ice 
melted from the mountains. 



THE STORY OF FREMONT 137 

And when it became known that he had taken 
a cannon with him, the President sent an order 
that he must not take the cannon, as his was a 
mission of peace. But Jessie opened the letter, and 
forgot to send it on for half a year! So that the 
brave explorer was not left defenseless. 

And what perils ! One night near the Modoc 
lava-beds, more than a third of his force was killed 
or wounded; and but for Kit Carson, not a man of 
Fremont's had been left alive in that hand-to-hand 
battle in the darkness. 

Fremont reports that the arrow^s had steel points, 
and w^ere supplied from a British trading-post at 
the mouth of the Umpqua River, Oregon. He adds : 
"Kit Carson says they are the most beautifully w^ar- 
like arrows I ever saw." The Athenaeum, an Eng- 
lish authority of this time, said : 'AVe are glad that 
Lieutenant Fremont has been sent to survey Ore- 
gon ; for w^e know it will be w^ell done, and w^e will 
then know how much blood and treasure to spend 
to secure that wild region." 

Fremont led three of these daring expeditions, 
one after the other, in ensuing years. He named 
the Golden Gate long before gold was found, fought 
through the Mexican w^ar, from Mount Shasta to 
Los Angeles, and then w^as made the first United 
States Senator from California. 

Xever had there been such an active life in all 



138 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

history, perhaps ; certainly never such a useful, and 
pure, and clean life. It is worth noticing here that 
Fremont, like Washington and Lincoln, was always 
a student, a student from his cradle to his grave. 




General Fremont, the Pathfinder. 

AMiile others laughed or told stories of adventure 
around the camp or cabin fires, Fremont was in his 
tent or under a tree with his books. He knew all 
science, every tree or plant, and could talk to his 
guides and soldiers, made up of all sorts of people, 
in almost any tongue 

Fremont, from first to last, was the hero of heroes, 
and the ideal of the young, and pure, and good, 
from one end of the land to the other. If only the 
pure and good, or if only the youths could have 



THE STORY OF FREMONT 



139 



voted for him in 1856, when he ran for President, 
he would have carried every State in the Union. 

In the fearful Civil War he was the most con- 
spicuous figure until he issued his emancipation 




General Fremont's Headquarters at Los Angeles. 

proclamation, thus anticipating President Lincoln. 
Envy and pitiful little jealousies that too often pur- 
sue great souls were clamoring for his retirement 
from the field of action. Yet he could not be idle 
for a day. 



140 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

He had planned the first railroad to California, 
and now would have perfected it, but for the envi- 
ous and rich and pow'erful men who again thwarted 
him. 

In fact Fremont, if we except his fortunate mar- 
riage, was never the favorite of fortune. He was 
not cunning; he never cared for money; and, let it 
be proudly said, with all his high offices and great 
opportunities, he died poor. 

Of his final hours (1890) let his sweet, gentle 
Jessie speak. She says : 

''Of the many kindnesses unknown Fate reserved 
for Fremont, the kindest was the last. He had just 
succeeded in a most cherished wish. Peace and rest 
were again secured, when he was attacked in New 
York by what he thought was a passing summer 
illness. His physician recognized danger, and 
quickly the cessation of pain showed a fatal condi- 
tion. 

"Xight and day his loving son watched over him, 
and with their long-time friend and physician, kept 
unbroken his happy composure. Rousing from a 
prolonged, deep sleep the General said: *If I con- 
tinue so comfortable I can finish my writing next 
week and go home.' Seeing the eyes closing again, 
his physician said, to test the mind: 

"'Home? Where do vou call home, General?' 



THE STORY OF FREMONT 141 

"One last clear look, a pleased smile : 'California, 
of course/ " 



'Hero, scholar, cavalier, 

Bayard of thy brave new land. 
Poppies for thy bed and bier. 

Dreamful poppies foot and hand. 

'Poppies garmented in gold; 

Poppies of the land you won — 
Love and gratitude untold — 

Poppies — peace — the setting sun! 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

Ideal (i-de'al), government (guv'ern-ment) frontier 
(fron'ter), Orient (o'ri-ent), Los Angeles (16s an'ge-Ies), 
Modoc (mo'dok), Lincoln (H"k'un), emancipation (e-man- 
ci-pa'tion), recognized (rek'og-nizd). 



HOW CALIFORNIA CAME INTO THE UNION. 



NOW, I'm g'oing to tell you a story that's not 
like any of the others. It has no hero. Our 
country had a big war with Mexico, and we won. 
California and much other land became part of the 
United States. 

The people of California soon wanted to form a 
State. A convention met at Monterey, September 
1, 1849. A constitution was adopted, officers elected, 
and laws passed before California was admitted into 
the Union. The first legislature met at San Jose. 
It passed many laws and gave the names to the 
counties of the State. Fre- 
mont and Gwin were elected 
United States Senators. 
They went to \\^ashington 
and asked that California be 
admitted to the Union. The 
President sent a special 
message to Congress about 
California. 



R ef erence T opies . 



Conveutiou at Mon- 
terey. 

The First U. S. Sena- 
tors. 

Webster's Speech. 

Seward's Speech. 

Calhoun. 

September 9, 1850. 

Why the Admission 
was Opposed. 



The giants of the Senate — 



Clay, 

142 



Calh 



own. 



Webster, 



HOW CALIFORNIA CAME INTO THE UNION 143 

Seward, and Jefferson Davis — men whom you will 
read about in the history of your country, — were 
interested in California. Calhoun and Davis did not 
want California admitted because of the Slavery 
Question. 

Almost the last speech Calhoun made was against 
California. He thought it w^ould bring trouble be- 
tween the North and the South. He tried to talk 
again, but was too weak, and another Senator read 
his speech. It was a great speech in all the arts that 
go to make up a fine oration. 

Daniel Webster said : *'I believe in the Spartan 
maxim — 'Improve, adorn what you have; seek no 
further.' I do not fear slavery in California be- 
cause the soil, climate, and everything connected 
with the region is opposed to slave labor. There 
has been talk of secession, peaceable secession. You 
might as well talk of a planet withdrawing from 
the solar system without a convulsion, as to talk 
about peaceable secession. 

"The Union, which has been so hard to form, 
has linked together the destinies of all parts of the 
country, and has made a great nation, because it is 
a united nation, with a common name, and a 
common flag, and a common patriotism. It has 
conferred upon the South no less than upon the 
Xorth great blessings. 

"There may be violence; there may be revolu- 



144 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

tion ; the great dead may be disturbed in their 
graves. 

''All this is possible, but not peaceable secession. 
The Union is one; it is a complete whole. It is 
bounded, like the buckler of Achilles, on either side 
by the ocean." 

William H. Seward, another name that you will 
hear more about in history, said : "California ought 
to be admitted at once ; California comes from that 
clime where the AA'est dies away into the rising 
East ; California, which bounds the empire and the 
continent; California, the youthful queen of the 
Pacific, in robes of freedom, inlaid with gold, is 
doubly welcome ! 

"llie stars and stripes should wave over its ports, 
or it will raise aloft a banner for itself. It would be 
no mean ambition if it became necessary for its own 
protection to found an independent nation on the 
Pacific. 

"It is farther away than the old colonies from 
England ; it is out of the reach of railroads ; the 
prairies, the mountains, and the desert, an isthmus 
ruled by foreign powers, and a cape of storms are 
between it and the armies of the Union." 

The delegates from California prepared a new ad- 
dress in which they related in detail the claims of 
California to be admitted into the Union. 

It seems strange now, when there is no longer 



HOW CALIFORNIA CAME INTO THE UNION 145 

any division between North and South, that Con- 
gress should hesitate to receive as part of the Union 
the Golden Land of the West. 

The bill making California a State passed the 
Senate, August 13, 1850. There were thirty-four 
Senators who voted for it, and eight against it. On 
September 7th, the bill was up for passage in the 
House. There were several attempts to defeat it, 
but it was passed by one hundred and fifty-four 
ayes against fifty-six noes. 

The President, Millard Fillmore, signed the bill 
September 9, 1850. California was the thirty-first 
State — the thirty-first star in the flag, in order of 
date, — but the peer in many respects of many States 
in the Union. 

It has contributed more than its share to the ma- 
terial and intellectual wealth of the world. Its 
treasures of gold, of soil, of climate ; the patriotism 
of its citizens ; the excellence of its schools, 
churches, and libraries ; its spirit of progress, its 
color and art atmosphere, make California the 
ideal Golden State. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS. 

San Jose (san ho-sa'), Monterey (mon-ta-ra'), conven- 
tion (kon-ven'shun), constitution (kon'sti-tu'shun), seces- 
sion (se-sesh'iin), successor (suk-ses'ser), Calhoun (kal- 
hoon'), libraries (li'bra-ries), ambition (am-bish'un), at- 
mosphere (at-'mos-fer), solar (so'ler), Achilles (a-kil'lez), 
delegates (del'e-gats). 



THE STORY OF A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. 




BATTLE— a real battle with the In- 
dians ! It took place at Castle Crags 
in 1855. And it is said to be the last 
battle of record where the Indians 
fought with arrows only. 

It occurred near Mount Shasta, 
which the poet has described as — 
"Lone as God, white as a winter moon." 
''Mountain Joe," a picturesque figure of pioneer 
days, was one of the men who took an active part 
in the battle. 

The entire country in the vicinity of Shasta was 
a sea of tents. The soil had been turned upside 
down by the miners. The 
river was red with red dirt. 
The fishes died. This was in 
1855, when the gold excite- 
ment was great. 

The Indians had deter- 
mined to drive out the 
whites. It led to a general 
war, which resulted in the 

146 



Reference Topics. 

Mount Shasta. 
Castle Crags. 
The Shasta Iiidiaus. 
Arrows. 
Joaquin Miller. 
The Battle. 
Mountain Joe. 
Indians of To-day. 



STORY OF A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS 



14; 



extinction of man}- tribes in Oregon and some in 
California. 




A Group of California Indians. 

R. P. Gibson, who had married an Indian chief's 
danghter, was the leader against the Shasta Indians, 
who were in revolt ; and he was aided by some 
friendly Indians. 

Joaquin Miller, who was then known as "Moun- 
tain Joe's Boy," fought and was wounded in the 
battle of Castle Crags, lie tells the story of the 
battle as follow^s : 



148 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 




"We rested by a deep, dark lake which the In- 
dians call the abode of their devil, Ku-kn-pa-rick, 
and they refused to approach its 
grassy, wooded shores. 

"Here Gibson, leaving his In- 
dians for the first time, passed 
from man to man as they 
crouched under the trees. He 
told them that there was to be 
a fight, and a fight to a finish ; 
that the hostiles were not an 
hour distant, and that no one 
could turn back and li\e ; for if 
we did not kill them they w^ould 
kill us. He told us that they 
had come down out of the Castle 
to kill deer, and so their arrows were not poisoned, 
and that we could swim. 

"He broke us u]) in parties, putting good and 
bad together, with Indians at the head of each. He 
told me to go with Joe, whom he sent to make a 
show of attack on the side next to Soda Springs. 
When near the hostiles Joe put me behind a tree 
on the edge of a small open place, and told me to 
stay there. Then he went on creeping through the 
dense brush, to place the other men. 

"I put some bullets into my mouth so as to have 
them handy, but I do not know what I did with 



Joaquin Miller, the 
Indian Fighter in 
1856-1857, afterwards 
"The Poet of the 
Sierras." 



STORY OF A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS 149 

them. I fired a few shots after Joe opened the fight, 
but hit only brush and rocks, I reckon. And now 
pandemonium! Indians do not often yell in battle; 
but on both sides of us now, the yelling was simply 
fiendish. They yelled from the top of the Castle 
to the bottom, it seemed to me. 

"\\ e had taken the enemy entirely unawares, — 
asleep most of them, after the morning's chase, — 
and our first shots brought down their dozing sen- 
tinels on the rocks. Finally there was some parley- 
ing, and the yelling, the whiz of arrows, and the 
crack of rifles stopped. Then some Indian women 
came out and across the little gorge to Joe and his 
men, and I, thinking they had all surrendered, 
walked out into the opening. 

"Gibson called from the rocks ahead of me and 
to my right, 'Boys, the fight now begins, and we've 
got to git them or they git us. Come on ! ^\dlo 
will go w^ith me?' I answ^ered that I would go; for 
it was all a picnic so far as I had yet seen, and I 
ran around to him. lUit there was l^lood on his 
hands and 1:)lood on his face, l)loo(l on all of his 

Indians, and most of the white men were bloody 
and hot. 

"The enemy used arrows entirely. They could 
tell \vhere we were, but we knew where they were 
only when we felt their sting. Gibson led, or rather 



150 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

crept, hastily on, his head below the chaparral. No 
one dared speak. But when we got in position, 
right in the thick of it, our men opened. Then the 
arrows, then the yelling, as never before ! 

"The women and children prisoners down with 
Joe set up the death-song, as if it were not already 
dismal enough. The savages bantered us and bul- 
lied us, saying w^e were all going to be killed before 
the sun went down ; that we were already covered 
with blood, and that they had not lost a man. I 
had not yet fired a shot since joining Gibson, and, 
rising up to look for a target, he told an Indian to 
'Pull that fool down by the hair,' which he prompt- 
ly did. 

"The battle had lasted for hours. The men were 
choking, and the gun was near going down, ^^'e 
must kill or be killed, and that soon. W'e must do 
our work before dark. The Avhite man has little 
show with an Indian in battle at night. 

"Gibson gathered all who could or would go, 
and took still another place by storm. Then Lane 
fell, mortally wounded by an arrow in the eye. I 
saw Gibson's gun fall from his hand from the very 
deluge of arrows ; then all was blank, and I knew 
no more of that battle. 

"The fight was over when I came to my senses, 
and it was dark. A young man by the name of 
Jameson was trying to drag me through the brush ; 



STORY OF A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS 151 

and it has always seemed to me that a good many 
people walked over me and trod on me. I could 
hear, but could not see. 

"An arrow had struck the left side of my face, 
knocked out two teeth, and had forced its point 
through at the back of my neck. I could hear, 
and I knew the voices of Gibson and Joe. They 
cut off the point of the arrow and pulled it out of 
my face by the feather end. Then I could see. I 
suffered no pain, but was benumbed and cold as we 
lay under the pines. Joe held my head all night, 
expecting that I would die. 

''Gibson had the sciuaw prisoners carry his 
w^ounded down to the pack-trail on the banks of 
the Sacramento. They laid us down under some 
pines and pretty juniper-trees on the west side of 
the swift, sweet river. And how tender and how 
kind these heroic men were ! I was as a brother 
to them now, — their boy hero. Only the day be- 
fore I had been merely 'Mountain Joe's Boy.' 

"Gibson's loss in killed was considerable for so 
small a number engaged, — several Indians, though 
only one white man. Indians never give their 
loss, because of encouragement to the enemy; and 
Mountain Joe and Gibson, for a like reason, always 
kept their list of killed and wounded as low as pos- 
sible, and spoke of the battle of Castle Crags as a 
trifling aft'air. Yet General Crook, in his letter to 



152 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Captain Gibson, marveled that he ever got out with 
a single man. 

"I had promises to mark the grave of Ike Hare 
with a fragment of granite from Castle Crags, so 
that those who pass up and down the pleasant 
walks around Castle Crags Tavern might look with 
respect on the resting-place of a brave man and an 
honest legislator of two States. But my little tab- 
let would seem so pitiful in the mighty presence of 
Mount Shasta! 

"And it is Crook's monument, and Dribelbies', 
and Mountain Joe's. The finger of the Infinite 
traces and retraces, in storm or sun, the story and 
the glory of their unselfish valor here while the 
world endures. It is enough. 

"There are those who care to read of savage in- 
cidents in these border battles. But such things 
should be left to obscurity, and I shall set down 
but two here. 

"The first of these was the treatment of the dead 
Modoc chief, Docas Dalla, by the chief of our In- 
dian allies. When the body was dragged before 
him, where he stood in the heat and rage of battle 
directing his men, he threw ofif his robe, and, nearly 
naked, leaped on the naked body (for it had al- 
ready been stripped and scalped), and there danced 
and yelled as no fiend of the infernal regions could 
have danced and yelled. 



STORY OF A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS 153 

"He called his fallen foe by name, and mocked 
and laughed, and leaped up and down on the dead 
till the body w^as slippery with the blood which 
gushed from its w^ounds, and he could no longer 
keep his footing. Yet, after all, it was only the 
old Greek and Trojan rage, — the story of Homer 
in another form of expression; and Castle Crags 
was Troy above the clouds. 

''One more incident, as described to me by the 
son of this same furious chief, on revisiting the 
battle-ground. This son of the chief was but a lad 
at the time, and so was left by his father with two 
Indians and a few white men who were too lame 
and worn-out to rush into the fight, in charge of 
the blankets, supplies, and so forth. They were left 
in the little depression, or dimple, in the saddle of 
the mountain, a few hundred feet above and to the 
south of Crook's (or Castle) Lake, and in the 
Modoc pass or trail. 

"When Gibson forced the fighting, as night came 
on, the hostiles separated, some going down the 
gorge as if to reach their stores of arrows in the 
caves of Battle Rock (for their supply must have 
been well-nigh spent by this time), while others 
stole ofif up the old Modoc trail that winds up 
above and around the lake, and in which the son of 
the chief and other Indians, as well as some whites, 
lay concealed. 



154 TACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

**And here in this dimple, on the great granite 
backbone that heaves above and about the lake, — 
here above the clouds, amid drifts, and banks, and 
avalanches of everlasting snow, the wounded fugi- 
tives, with empty quivers, and leaving a red path 
as they crawled or crept on and up over the banks 
and drifts of snow, were met by their mortal ene- 
mies face to face. 

"If you stand here facing Battle Rock to the 
south, and with your back to the lake, which lies 
only a few hundred feet to the rear, though far 
below, you will see how impossible it was for the 
wounded savages to escape down the rugged crags 
to the left, or up and over the crescent of snow to 
the right. They could not turn back ; they could 
not turn to the left nor to the right; so they kept 
on. But their relentless red enemies followed their 
crimson trail, found and tomahawked and scalped 
them where they lay, and threw their l)odies into 
the lake. 

"Like all decisive battles with swift-footed sav- 
ages, this one covered a large field. The fighting, 
or at least the dead, and the blood on the rocks 
and snow, reached from the south shore of Crook's 
Lake to the north base of Battle Rock. The cross 
cut in the white spruce-tree, by the hand that 
writes this, and not far from the northernmost 



STORY OF A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS 155 

bank of the lake, may be set down as the outer 
edge of the battle-gronnd in that direction. 

"You will find small stone cairns up here and 
there on heads of granite rocks that break above 
the snow. It is the custom for an Indian when 
passing the scene of some great disaster, especially 
if alone, to place in a conspicuous position a stone 
by the way, in memory of his dead. He never 
rears his monument at one time, as does the white 
man. He places but one stone, often a very small 
one, and leaves the rest to time and to other hands. 

'1 will add Captain Gibson's story of the fight, 
from his own trembling hand : 

"Gibson's Switch, Sacramento River, July 25, 1893. 

"In the year 1855, there being a great rush of 
miners here, the vSacramento River and other 
streams became muddy, and thereby obstructing the 
run of fish. The Indians became very indignant on 
account of its stopping the run of fish, which was 
their principal living. They commenced making 
preparations for hostilities by getting into strong- 
holds, the principal one being the Castle Crags. 
Captain Crook came to the east fork of the Trinity 
about twelve miles from here with a company of 
regulars, and went out to Castle Crags with a view 
to break up the band, but failed to engage them. 

"I sent him a letter telling him the way I was 
situated, so that by raising some men I could de- 
stroy them. His answer was to do so, which I did. 
We had a severe fight, — some men killed and a 



156 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

number wounded. Wc also found that the arrows 
were Modoc arrows ; also amongst the dead two 
Modoc chiefs. I sent word of the battle to Captain 
Crook, and he gave it his hearty approval, and 
thanked me. 

"We had and have every reason to believe that 
the Indians intended to consolidate and make a 
general outbreak, as the Modocs did soon after do; 
and there is no doubt but they would have done 
it had it not been for that battle as aforesaid at 
Castle Crags. Captain Crook was afterward the 
famous Indian fighter. General Crook. I was en- 
abled to reach these Indians, which Crook could 
not, through my father-in-law, Wielputus, the chief 
of the Shastas. We took twenty-nine of his men 
with us. R. P. GIBSON." 



THE PIONEER 

Oh. staunch path-hnder! Grizzled pioneer! 

Your brown, thick-furrowed cheek has known the heat 

Of sun-scorched plain and felt the stinging sleet 
On mountain peaks. Yet ever of good cheer 
You toiled, though lean, pale Hunger came so near 

You heard the tread of his approaching feet; 

Dark-browed Despair you sometimes downward beat, 
And stood above the prostrate form of Fear. 
I count you as a soldier brave and true; 

A hero loved of heroes, whose strong hand 
Upheld the flag of Progress to the skies; 
Who suffered patientl}" and never knew 

Defeat, and who within a wild, wierd land 

Did strike the blow that bade a new world rise. 

—Herbert Bashford. 



OLD CALIFORNIANS. 



'Tis a land so far that you wonder whether 

E'en God would know it should you fall down dead; 

'Tis a land so fair through the wilds and weather. 
That the sun falls weary and flushed and red, — 

That the sea and sky seem coming' together, 
Seem closing together as a book that is read: 

Oh! the nude, weird West, where an unnamed river 
Rolls restless in bed of bright silver and gold; 

Where white flashing mountains flow rivers of silver 
As a rock of the desert flowed fountains of old; 

By a dark-wooded river that calls to the dawn. 

And makes mouths at the sea with his dolorous swan 

Oh! the land of the wonderful sun and weather. 
With green under foot and with gold over head. 

Where the sun takes flame, and you wonder whether 
'Tis an isle of fire in his foamy bed; 

Where the ends of the earth they are welding together 
In rough-hewn fashion, in a forge-flame red. 



COMMEND me to the old Californian. I should 
say that an old gold-hunter of '49, standing 
on a peak of the Sierras with the world behind 
him, storm-blown and beaten, yet with hands 
and heart open, unsullied by any sin of the popu- 
lous world below, stands not far from God. 

157 



158 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

They climb'd the rock-built breasts of earth, 

The Titan-fronted, billowy steeps 

That cradled Time. . . . Where Freedom keeps 

Her flag- of white-blown stars unfurl'd, 

They turn'd about, they saw the birth 

Of sudden dawn upon the world: 

Again they gazed; they saw the face 

Of God, and named it boundless space. 

Ah, there have been clouds in the old Califor- 
nian's life; storms and wrecks, and years of clouds! 
And even still there are more than enough in the 
West to make the sunset glorious. But the world 
is away off to him. He has memories — a lock of 
hair in his hand, a little song in his heart. He 
lives alone in the past. Life, love — all with him 
are over; but he does not complain. May he strike 
it yet in the shaft he is still sinking, in the great 
tunnel he is still boring into the mountains, and go 
back to his waiting wife and babes. Alas ! his babes 
are full-grown ; he will never see his babies any more. 

It is to be allowed that these men were not at all 
careful of the laws, either ancient or modern, eccle- 
siastical or lay. They would curse. They would 
fight like dogs — aye, like Christians — in battle. But 
there was more solid honor among them than the 
world will ever see again in any body of men, I 
fear, till it approaches the millennium. 

Do you know where the real old Californian is — 
the giant, the world-builder? 

He is sitting by the trail high up on the moun- 



OLD CALIFORNIA.NS 159 

tain. His eyes are dim, and his head is white. His 
hands are not strong. His pick and shovel are at his 
side. His feet are weary and sore. He is still pros- 
pecting. Pretty soon he will sink his last prospect 
hole in the Sierra. 

Some younger men will come along, and lengthen 
it out a little, and lay him in his grave. The old 
miner will have passed on to prospect the outcrop- 
pings that star the floors of heaven. 

He is not numerous now ; but I saw him last sum- 
mer high up on the head-waters of the Sacramento. 
His face is set forever away from that civilization 
which has passed him by. He is called a tramp now. 
And the new, nice people who have slid over the 
plains in a palace car and settled down there, set 
dogs on him sometimes when he comes that way. 

I charge you, treat the old Californian well 
wherever you find him. He has seen more, suffered 
more, practiced more self-denial than can now fall 
to the lot of any man. 

I never see one of these old prospectors w^ithout 
thinking of Ulysses, and wondering if any Pene- 
lope still weaves and unweaves, and waits the encl 
of his wanderings. Will any old blind dog stagger 
forth at the sound of his voice, lick his hand, and 
fall down at his feet? 

No, he will never return. He has not heard from 
home for twenty years. 



150 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

And though he may die there in the pines on the 
mighty mountain, while still feebly searching for 
the golden fleece, do not forget that his life is an 
epic, noble as any handed down from out the dusty 
eld. I implore you, treat him kindly. Some day a 
fitting poet will come, and then he will take his 
place among the heroes and the gods. 

But there is another old Californian — a wearier 
man — the successful one. He, too, is getting gray. 
But he is a power in the land. He is a prince in 
fact and in act. What strange fate was it that 
threw dust in the eyes of that old Californian, sit- 
ting by the trail high up on the mountain, and 
blinded him so that he could not see the gold just 
within his grasp, a quarter of a century ago? And 
what good fairy was it that led this other old Cali- 
fornian, now the banker, the railroad king, or sena- 
tor, to where the mountain gnomes had hidden 
their gold? 

What accidental beggars and princes we have in 
the world to-day! But whether beggar or prince, 
the old Californian stands a head and shoulders 
taller than his fellows wherever you may find him. 
This is a solid, granite truth. 

Our dead are the mighty majority of old Califor- 
nians ! Xo one would guess how numerous they 
are. California was one vast battle-field. The 



OLD CALIFORNIANS 161 

knights of the nineteenth century lie buried in her 
bosom ; while here and there, over the mountain- 
tops, totters a lone survivor, still prospecting. 

The Crusades knew not braver knight 
Than these brave men before her waUs; 

The noblest in the old-time fight 

Matched not the humblest here that falls. 

And never were there worn such scars 

As these won in these nobler wars. 

These bloodless wars, that bring not pain, 
These priceless victories of Peace, 

Where Pride is slain, where Self is slain, 
Where Patience hath her victories; 

Where, when at last the gates are down. 

You have not burned, but built, a town. 




The Pioneer, by Solon Borglum. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT FIRE, 1906. 



THE SAN FRANCISCO FIRE OF 1906. 

Originated in an earthquake on April 18, 1906, affecting 
an area of 450 miles in length and 50 miles in width at most 
points. 

Two thousand five hundred ninety-three acres (4.05 square 
miles) destroyed in heart of down-town business and resi- 
dence districts, about one-third of the city. Loss of life re- 
sulting from it was 452 people. Loss of property was 
$350,000,000; 28,188 buildings destroyed. 

The Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed 2,000 acres, lid build- 
ings, at a loss of $165,000,000. 

The relative damage in the California earthqake was 
greater in some outlying towns, as San Jose. 

Martial law was declared and Gen. Fred Funston was in 
command. 

Failure of the water system caused a resort to dynamite 
to destroy buildings in the path of the flames, to arrest their 
progress. 

Two hundred and fifty thousand people made homeless by 
the fire, many wholly ruined firiancially. Splendid organiza- 
tion of relief prevented great privation and suffering. 

Steel-frame buildings, and those built on rock or with 
good fo'.indations, stood the shock and strain best. Steel and 
concrete construction has generally been adopted in the 
rapid rebuilding, giving security against a recurrence of the 
disaster. 




HE nig-ht of April 17, 1906, was beau- 
tiful. The Stars hung low from a 
clear sky, the air was balmy. A wave 
of heat rippled into your face from 
the south. It was a strangely silent 
On my way home from the 



night. 



162 



STORY OF THE GREAT FIRE 163 

theatre to the Richmond District, San Francisco, I 
had a queer personal experience. A strange white 
dog with sore eyes, and pitifully poor, followed me 
from the car to the house. The dog tried to ex- 
press his desire for companionship and sympathy 
in the appealing gaze of his eyes. When the door 
of the house was opened, the dog rushed in and 
l)egan to bark and then whine. A few hours after 
the dog was put out of the house, the earthquake 
came. The dog knew as the several birds knew, 
that the earth was out of tune. For several days 
many people testified that cats pussy-footed about 




Looking Down Market Street After the Fire. 



164 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



showing danger signals that were significant and 
mysterious. Horses and other animals were stamp- 
ing in their stalls affrighted, several hours before 
the earthquake. So the white dog knew, and his 
piteous howling was almost human. It was even 
more real than the cry of the banshee behind the 
stage scenery. The earthquake came at 5:13 a. m. 
Wednesday morning, April 18, 1906. The earth 
lifted and went in a tremendous zigzag. Fabled 
Atlas, who had carried the globe on his shoulders, 
let it fall. lUiildino-s fell, houses crumbled. Great 




San Francisco After the Fire in 1906. 



STORY OF THE GREAT FIRE 165 

steel beams were twisted. Chaos reigned. The 
house in which I lived w^as moved from its founda- 
tions, tables were overturned, glass broken. In 
the crash I landed on the floor on my back. The 
first flash of intelligence brought me a quick realiza- 
tion that the dog knew the end of the world had 
come. It was not the end of the w^orld. In a few^ 
minutes everybody was on the streets, thousands 
of people only partially dressed. The birds began 
to sing. The crash and roar of the ocean in- 
creased. The aml:)ulances came. Express wagons, 
automobiles without regard to speed limits, wheel- 
barrows, baby carriages and trunks, filled the 
streets. The sun came up and flooded the city with 
its brightness. Then the fire came. Smoke curled 
with picturesque effect from a hundred different 
places. The red tongues of flame reached towards 
the sky. I ran to Lone Alountain, and from this 
resting place of the bones of the dead I saw a 
great city on fire. For three days the city burned, 
and was destroyed, not by earthquake, but by fire. 
It is true that some poorly constructed buildings 
were wrecked, and thousands of brick chimneys 
collapsed from the shock. The loss would not 
have been great if the city had been able to stop 
the onward rush of the flames. The city was 
burning. Men. and women began to rush here and 
there. The first thought was not for property, but 



166 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

tor loved ones who might be killed or injured. The 
second thought was of valuable papers and records. 
The third thought was for personal safety. I was 
fortunate in securing a horse and buggy, and made 
a tour of the line of fire. The white heat, the red 
fire, the black and gray smoke, were great. The 
fire fighters were brave, tireless and strong, but 
the fire was triumphant. The city was without 
light, water, sewers and the regular supply of food. 
The days were all nights to the workers, and all 
Sundays to the idlers. Mayor Eugene Schmitz, 
with a vision greatly to his credit, ordered all 
saloons closed, all whisky destroyed, and free milk 
to be distributed for the children. A committee of 
fifty, and the state and national governments, re- 
sponded to the call of the Mayor, and order was 
restored. 

Pliny the Younger, in describing the eruption 
of Vesuvius, which destroyed Pompeii, and in 
which the historian, the Elder Pliny, lost his life, 
shows how history repeats itself. Here was the 
same motley crowd seeking safety in the parks, on 
the hills, vacant lots, and in flight to distant lands. 
A blind man sat a whole night and part of the day 
w^aiting for some one to take him to safety. Mil- 
lionaires and day laborers, poets and butchers, 
members of all classes, neighbored together. At 
the ferrv, the wild rush to get across was on. 



STORY OF THE GREAT FIRE 167 

Men and women and children were there, loaded 
with blankets, bird cages, parrots, and both val- 
uable and valueless household articles. They 
had struggled from street to street, avoiding the 
places where the flames burned the fiercest. A 
caravan of people moved out Mission Street. 
Everybody was loaded with personal belongings, 
the fire licking at their heels. There wxre many 
people pulling trunks along the sidewalks, vehicles 
of all sorts loaded to over capacity, old women, 
pitifully old, carrying an old portrait of some dear 
ancestor, or perhaps some object of no value what- 
ever. It was but the weak attempt to save some- 
thing from the fire. In times of great stress the 
little things are of as much importance as the big 
things. The exodus was a thrilling sight. It 
meant that over 200,000 people were homeless. A 
hundred thousand were in the parks. Rumors of 
approaching flames would drive many into wild 
hysterics. In many cases the people would not 
leave their homes until the flames came into the 
back or front doors. There were few tears, and 
much heroic work. Those who remained in the 
city cooked in the streets, in the back yards, slept 
out of doors in tents or in temporary cabins. The 
officials devoted themselves to the sanitary condi- 
tions. The weeks so passed. The people began 
to smile at misfortune and to actually enjoy the 



168 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

life out of doors. The great fire and earthquake 
banished selfishness. When the people of other 
cities sent millions, emotion was strained to tears. 
The awful desolation and the new% clean poverty 
of the people were hid by the hand of friendliness 
over the eyes of the refugees; while fraternities 
with secret oaths to help a brother, churches with 
creeds, citizens in fierce competition, all responded 
to the call of brotherhood as wide as humanity 
itself. It was the Sermon on the Mount in action. 
There will be a new San Francisco, a greater San 
Francisco. The fire was a catastrophe, not a 
calamity, that struck the city on that April morn- 
ing. The new city will be the wonder of the 
Twentieth Century — new schools, new churches, 
new public service utilities, new honor and fame — 
new, new, everything new. 



The dove will continue to sing; there are many 
to-morrows for the living and the dead. 
(Written May 1, 1906.) 



CHAPTER II. 

April 18, 1918. 

It came to pass as it was written. The thousands 
of people who came to San Francisco to see the 
great Exposition in 1915 saw a new city — a mar- 
velous city, with new schools, new churches, new 
public service utilities, new homes, new business 
blocks, new Civic Center — new, new, new, every- 
thing new. 




A Glimpse of San Francisco, 1918. 



169 




170 



SAN FRANCISCO. 

(From the Sea.) 
BY BRET HARTE. 

SEREXE, indifferent of Fate, 
Thou sittest at the A\'estern Gate ; 

I'pon thy height, so lately won. 
Still slant the banners of the sun ; 

Thou seest the white seas strike their tents, 
O A\^arder of two Continents ! 

And, scornful of the peace that flies 
Thy angry winds and sullen skies. 

Thou drawest all things, small or great, 
To thee, beside the Western Gate. 



O lion's whelp, that hidest fast 

In jungle growth of spire and mast! 

171 



172 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

I know thy cunning and thy greed, 
Thy hard high lust and willful deed, 

And all thy glory loves to tell 
Of specious gifts material. 

Drop dow^n, O Fleecy Fog, and hide 
Her skeptic sneer and all her pride! 

Wrap her, O Fog, in gown and hood 
Of her Franciscan Brotherhood. 

Hide me her faults, her sin and blame; 
With thy gray mantle cloak her shame ! 

So shall she cowled, sit and pray 
Till morning bears her sins away. 

Then rise, O Fleecy Fog, and raise 
The glory of her coming days ; 

Be as the cloud that flecks the seas 
Above her smoky argosies ; 

When forms familiar shall give place 
To stranger speech and newer face ; 

When all her throes and anxious fears 
Lie hushed in the repose of years; 



• SAN FRANCISCO 173 

\\'hen Art shall raise and Culture lift 
The sensual joys and meaner thrift, 

And all fulfilled the vision we 

Who watch and wait shall never see. 

Who in the morning of her race, 
Toiled fair or meanly in our place, 

But, yielding" to the common lot. 
Lie unrecorded and forgot. 



THE STORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL. 



1 j(^^(^^ 




1 





HE United States completed the 
building" of the Panama Canal in 
1915. It was four hundred and ten 
years after the discovery of the 
Pacific by Balboa. He was the first 
white man to cross the Isthmus of 
Darien, now named Panama. Columbus sailed into 
the entrance of what he called the Bay of Ships. 
It is now called Colon, which is the Spanish for 
Columbus. It is said that Columbus sailed inland 
as far as the Chagres River, which he called the 
River of Crocodiles, because he saw so many of 
them there. A Spanish engineer reported at about 
the time Magellan sailed into the Pacific, that a 
canal should be cut across the Isthmus to connect 
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This is the first 
mention in history of the canal, which was not 
built for nearly four hundred years later. In 1521 
a post road was made across the Isthmus. Sir 
Francis Drake in his day made an attack on the 
treasure house of Panama. The trail across the 
Isthmus was used by traders for centuries. In 

174 



STORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL 



175 



1849, when the gold rush to California was started, 
thousands of people crossed on the way to Cali- 
fornia. In 1885 the Panama Railroad was built. 
In 1879 De Lesseps, a great engineer, who built 
the Suez Canal, attempted to build a canal across 
Panama. He was aided by the French govern- 
ment. x\fter several years' trial and after spending 
over twenty-six million dollars, the venture failed. 
Twenty-five thousand men died of fever and other 
tropical diseases. President Roosevelt became an 
advocate of building the 
canal. Congress passed 
the necessary laws, and 
appropriated over four 
hundred millions of dol- 
lars. The best engineers 
of the nation were se- 
cured. The most wonder- 
ful lesson in the building 
of the canal was the care 
taken of the human be- 
ings who worked on the 
canal. The United States 
employed sanitary engi- 
neers of health conditions. 
Doctors and dentists were 
employed, schools estab- 
lished, recreation grounds The Panama Tree. After which 
^ Panama Was Named. 




176 



PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 



made, Y. M. C. A. buildings and home con- 
structed, and in fact everything for the comfort, 
health and pleasure of the people that could be 
done was carried out by our government. Native 
villages were also supervised, and the health of 
the people was excellent. All this shows clearly 
that a government profits by taking care of its 
people. 

It was a great commercial adventure. The At- 
lantic is now connected with the Pacific, and 
Balboa, were he to return and view the ocean and 
the country that he discovered, would marvel at 
the stupendous work that our people have per- 
formed. 



■i\^ 





./" 



'}^'m 



O C E A. 



Map of Republic of Panama. 



PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION. 

Celebrated inauguration of Panama Canal. 

Location, Harbor View, S. F., on shore of bay, 635 
acres. 

Opened Feb. 20, 1915; closed Dec. 4, 1915. 

Estimated total cost, $50,000,000. 

Net profit on closing, less wreckage, $1,040,000. In 
addition, the Exposition Co. paid for and presented to 
the city of San Francisco the Exposition Auditorium, cost 
$1,086,000, and its great pipe-organ, cost $50,000. 

Thirty-six foreign nations participated; Zl states and 
three territories were represented. 

Eleven great exhibit buildings in the center of grounds. 
West of these the foreign buildings, states and sports ; the 
east end was the amusement "Zone." 

Eighty thousand exhibitors, exhibits valued at 
$350,000,000. 

Total attendance, 18,413,399. 

Eight hundred Congresses and Conventions held during 
the period of Exposition. 

Its superiority to other expositions was in the unity 
of motive in architecture, color scheme and statuary, courts 
and fountains. 

Central feature was the Tower of Jewels, 435 feet 
high. The Art building, its Colonnade and environs were 
the most beautiful attraction. 

Notable and popular statues were "The End of the 
Trail." "The Thinker," "The Pioneer," "The Mother of 
the Dead," "Earth, Air, Fire, and Water," "The Rising 
and the Setting Sun." 

Special attraction was the unique, brilliant night elec- 
trical illumination. The musical features were most excel- 
lent, and the intramural transportation arrangements were 
satisfactory and some of them novel. 

President, Chas. C. Moore ; Secretary, Rudolph J. 
Taussig; Treasurer, A. W. Foster; Director-in-Chief, Dr. 
Frederick J. V. Skiff. 



177 




A Glimpse of Panama-Pacific International Exposition. 



178 



PANAMA CANAL. ♦ 

Three routes were surveyed — ■ the Tehuantepec, the ! 

Nicaragua and the Panama. Gen. Grant advocated the | 

Nicaragua route in his inaugural address in 1873. It was \ 

adopted first, but the French company, that had com- j 

menced operations on the Panama route and failed, made | 

offer of their property for $40,000,000, which was accepted ! 

and work begun by the United States. i 

Secession of Panama from Colombia, and Panama f 

canal zone of 10 miles width ceded to the United States, ! 

five miles on either side of the canal. Treaty with t 

Panama ratified Feb. 23, 1904. { 

Opened to commercial traffic Aug. 15, 1914. ! 

Total cost, including general expenses, $305,148,000. to j' 
which add $40,000,000 to new Panama Canal Co., $10,000,- ' 
000 to Republic of Panama, $20,053,000 for sanitation, 
making grand total of $375,201,000 exclusive of the annual 
payments to Panama of $250,000 during a period of nine 
years. 

Nicaragua route would have been 377 miles shorter 
than the Panama from New York to San Francisco. 
Panama route saves 7.873 miles from the distance around 
the Horn formerly necessary to cover. 

Total excavation, 239,000,000 cubic yards. 

Total length from deep water to deep water, 50.3 miles. 
Total length between shore lines, 40 miles. 

Bottom width of channel, maximum 1,000 feet, mini- 
mum 300 feet. 

Twelve locks, usable length 1,000 feet, width 110 feet. 
About 2J4 hours consumed from ocean to ocean in lockage. 

System of tolls used, according to character of vessel. 

Canal is fortified. 



179 



WHO NAMED CALIFORNIA? 




ALIFORXIA is mentioned for the 
first time, so far as any one has been 
able to discover, in an old Spanish 
romance, printed in 1510. The name 
appears in the following passages : 
"Know that, on the right hand of 
the Indies, very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, 
there is an island called California, which was 
peopled with black women, without any men 
among them, because they were accustomed to 
live after the fashion of Amazons. 

"In this island are many griffins, on account of 
the great savageness of the country and the im- 
mense quantity of wdld game found there. 

"Now, in the time that those great men of the 
Pagus sailed (against Constantinople), with those 
great fleets of which I have told you, there reigned 
in this land of California a queen, large of body, 
very beautiful, in the prime of her years," etc. 

The name California next appears in the memoirs 
of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who 
served with Cortez in the conquest of Alexico. He 



WHO NAMED CALIFORNIA Igl 

writes that "Cortez again set sail from Santa Cruz, 
and discovered the coast of CaHfornia." 

"The name California was gradually used to 
designate the region from the Gulf of California to 
the mythical 'Straits of Anian' (which were very 
probably Bering Straits)." 

"The country was called New Albion by Sir 
Francis Drake in 1579." 

"In recent times the region north of San Diego 
was called Alta California, and that to the south, 
Baja California." 

The name California, derived from the two 
Spanish words, caliente fornalla, — i. e., "hot fur- 
nace," — was given by Cortez, in the year 1535, to 
the peninsula now known as Old (or Lower) Cali- 
fornia, of which he was the discoverer, on account 
of its hot climate. 



MEANINGS OF SPANISH NAMES. 

Tn pronunciation of Spanish words give 
a the sound of ay; give i the sound of ee; 
give y the sound of h; give o the sound of 
oh; give u the sound of oo', h is silent; // is 
sounded like Hi in tnillion; n is sounded 
like tiy in lanyard; hua is sounded like 
ti'(7 in water. 



Acampo, pasture-land on commons. 

Agua Caliente, hot water. 

Agua Caiendo, falling water. 

Agua Tibia, warm water. 

Agua Puerca, pig-water. 

Alameda, a poplar grove; a public walk. 

Alamo, poplar. 

Alcatraz, pelican. 

Alturas, the heavens. 

Alvarado, a surname meaning "white 

road." 
Anahuac, said to mean "everlasting 

water." 
Arroyo Burro, jackass creek. 
Arroyo Del Norte, north creek. 
Arroyo Seco, dry creek. 
Blanca, white. 
Bolinas, noises. 
Buenaventura, good luck. 

Cache, a hiding-place for goods. 

Cajon, box (valley) shut in by hills. 

Calaveras, place of the skull. 

Campo Seco, dry country. 

Casa Grande, great house. 

Castroville, named in honor of General 
Castro. 

Ceres, the goddess of grain. 

Cerros, hills. 

Chino, a Chinaman ; a half-breed In- 
dian ; a simpleton. 

Cienega, swamp. Wrongly spelled Se- 
nega, in Ventura. A swampy place 
in an arid region. 



Coahquilla or Keweah, seceders (In- 
dians). 
Colorado, red ; ruddy. 
Conejo, rabbit. 

Contra Costa, the opposite coast. 
Cordero, lamb. 

Coronado, crowned. A surname. 
Cruces, crosses. 
Cruz, cross. 

Dehesa, pasture-ground. 

Del Mar, of the sea. 

Descanso, place of rest. 

Diablo, devil. A favorite Spanish name. 

Dolores, sorrowful ; feminine name. 

Dulzura, sweetness. 

El Capitan, the captain. 

Eldorado, the land of gold. 

El Nido, the nest. Meaning residence. 

£1 Paso, the pass. 

Encinitas, little oaks. 

Escondido, hidden ; concealed. 

Estrella, star. 

Eureka, "I have found it." 

Garrote, cudgel ; also applied to the 

Spanish method of execution. 
Guajome, house by frog-pond. 

Hermosa, beautiful. 

Jacumba, hut bv the water. 
182 



NAMES OF PLACES IN CALIFORNIA 



183 



Jamacha, scummy water, or the mock- 
orange. 
Jamul, antelope-water. 

La Jolla or Joya, probably misspelling 

of "Hoya," hole or cave. 
La Mesa, a table-land. 
La Paz, the peace. 
La Playa, the beach. 
Las Flores, the flowers. 
Las Vegas, the meadows. 
Lobes, wolves. 
Los Alamos, the poplars. 
Los Gatos, the cats. 
Nos Nietos, the grandsons. 
Los Osos, the bears. 

Madera, wood. 
Mare, sea. 
Mariposa, butterfly. 
Modoc (Indians), strangers. 
Mojave, or Mohave, three mountains. 
Monte Diablo, devil's mountain. 
Montserrate, notched mountain. A sur- 
name. 
Morro, any round object. 

Pajaro, bird. 

Pala, shovel. 

Paso Robles, pass of the oaks. 

Pescadera, a fishing-place. 

Pinole, a kind of drink. 

Pinos, pines. 

Presidio, garrison, fortress; penitentiary. 

Reyes, kings. 

Rio Grande, great river. 

San (masculine), Santa (feminine), or 
Santo, is the Spanish for saint. 
More than a hundred places in 
California are named in honor of 
the saints. A few of the places were 
discovered or founded on the day of 



the saint whose name they bear. 
Ranches, which give their names to 
many streams and towns, were named 
in honor of the patron saint of the 
owner, or the saint whose day was 
the owner's birthday : San Carlos, 
Charles ; San Diego, James ; San Di- 
eguito, James the Less ; San Felipe, 
Philip ; San Geronimo, Jerome ; San 
Jacinto, Jacinth ; San Jose, Joseph ; 
San Juan, John ; San Luis Obispo, 
Louis the Bishop ; San Luis Rey, 
Louis the King; San Marcus, Mark; 
San Mateo, Matthew; San Nicholas, 
Nicholas ; San Pablo, Paul ; San 
Pasqual, holy passover; Santa Ana, 
Anna; Santa Catalina, Kate; Santa 
Cruz, holy cross ; Santa Fe, holy 
faith; Santa Rosa, Rose; Santa 
Ysabel, Isabel. 

Sierra, a saw ; then a mountain, be- 
cause the tops look like saw-teeth. 

Sierra Madre, Mountains of the Mother 
(of Christ). 

Sierra Nevada, mountains white with 
snow. 

limi, source of water. 

Sur, south. 

Tahoe, big water. 

Tecolote. the ground-owl. 
Temescal, a sweat-house. 
Tia Juana, Aunt Jane ; was corrupted 

by Tiwana, by the sea. 
Todos Santos, all saints. 
Toro, bull. 

Tres Pinos, three pines. 
Tulare, place of tules or rushes. 

Vallecitos, little valleys. 
Viejos, old. 

Yreka, cave mountain. 



HISTORIC LANDMARKS 

By JOSEPH R. KNOWLAND, 

Chairman Historic Landmarks Committee, Native Sons of the Gohien 

West, Since 1902. 

The Order of Native Sons of the Golden West has a record of 
accomplishment in preserving and restoring the historic landmarks 
of California of which it is justly proud. Distinctively a California 
organization, with one of its chief objects "to perpetuate in the 
minds of all native Californians the memories of the days of '49," it 
was particularly appropriate that Native Sons should assume the 
leadership in this important work, ably assisted by the Order of 
Native Daughters. 

Nearly every epoch of California's romantic and picturesque 
history is recalled by landmarks located throughout the State. We 
are reminded, for instance, of the days of Spanish sovereignty when we 
view the remaining Franciscan missions forming part of the chain of 
twenty-one establishments which extended from San Diego in the far 
south to Sonoma in the north. In the preservation of these most 
unique landmarks in the entire west, monuments to California's original 
pioneers, no organization has accompished more. 

Sutter's Fort is a reminder of the trials and hardships of the 
pioneers of '49 and earlier; the old custom house at Monterey has the 
rare distinction of having floated from its fiagstafif the Spanish, Mexican 
and American flags. Colton hall represents the Transition period. 
Within this old building there gathered in September and October, 1849, 
that remarkable assemblage of early Californians who drafted the 
Constitution under which California was admitted to statehood. These 
and many other landmarks have been preserved, monuments erected 
and tablets placed, through the untiring efforts of the Order of Native 
Sons, at an expenditure of thousands of dollars. 

Sutter's Fort. Twenty-eight years ago at the eleventh session of the 
Grand Parlor, held at Fresno, a resolution was unanimously passed tak- 
ing the initial steps that resulted in the preservation and restoration of 
Sutter's fort. The sun^ of $20,000 was raised by the Order for the 

184 



HISTORIC LANDMARKS 185 

purchase of the land, covering two blocks, in the city of Sacramento. 
The State Legislature of 1891 appropriated an additional $20,000 and 
appointed a board of Sutter's fort trustees. To this board the Native 
Sons of the Golden West transferred the property and the work of 
restoring the establishment to its original 
\Aim state was begun. On April 26, 1893, the 

%^^ restored Sutter's fort was dedicated and the 

jg Grand Parlor, which convened at Sacra- 

8 mento that year, attended the ceremonies 

<S in a body, viewing with undisguised pleas- 

,fl».. ure the consummation of the work the 

Order had started. Additional sums have 
since been appropriated for the improve- 
ment of the property. 

Marshall's Monument. The discovery 
of gold, it is universally acknowledged, 
revolutionized conditions in California, 
turning the steps of thousands westward. 
The Order of Native Sons realized the fit- 
ness of erecting a suitable monument to 
the man who first discovered the yellow 
metal in California and at the Grand Par- 
lor held at Woodland in 1886, a resolution 
was passed providing for the appointment 
of a committee of five "to prepare a 
1 memorial and present the same to the next 

■MMi f Legislature of this State asking that the 

^ said Legislature make provisions for erect- 

<■„,;"' ^^^Mas«^ """S^ ^ suitable monument to the late Hon. 

James W. Marshall." The committee ap- 

YrSTooUtn^'^^ZtXl -"""^ -' " -"' -'^ •"" ^""^y - 

Francisco. characteristic of the Order and one year 

later reported an appropriation by the Leg- 
islature of $5,000 for the erection of a suitable monument and the 
appointment of a committee for its erection. This monument to-day 
stands upon an elevation back of Coloma in Eldorado county near the 
spot where Marshall picked up from the tail race of Sutter's mill a 
few yellow particles that marked the beginning of one of the most 
important epochs in the history of California. 

Custom House. In 1900, the attention of tha Grand Parlor was 
called to the condition of the old Monterey custom house where 




186 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag on July 7, 
1846, when California passed from Mexican to American rule. A 
lease was obtained by the Order of Native Sons from the United 
States Government, which owned the property. Later an appropria- 
tion of $4,200 was provided by the State Legislature for the preserva- 
tion of the building, and the lease held by the Order of Native Sons 
was transferred to a State commission. 

Coltou Hall. Among the many interesting landmarks in quaint 
Monterey stands Colton hall, bearing the name of Rev. Walter Colton, 
former chaplain of the United States frigate Congress and later Al- 
calde for the district of Monterey. As already mentioned, there as- 
sembled in this building during September and October, 1849, a con- 
stitutional convention which drafted California's first Constitution. 
Among the members of this convention whose names are familiar in 
the early history of California were General M. G. Vallejo, John A. 
Sutter, Thomas O. Larkin, William M. Gwin, H. W. Halleck and 
many others. At the Oroville session of the Grand Parlor in 1900 
resolutions were passed pledging the co-operation of the Order in a 
plan for the preservation of the property. At the legislative session 
of 1903, the writer, then a member of the State Senate, secured the 
passage of a bill providing for the appointment of a board of Colton 
Hall trustees to accept from the city of Monterey a lease of the prop- 
erty and making an appropriation of $1,500 for its protection. 

So popular and important became the work of preserving Califor- 
nia's rapidly disappearing landmarks that the Grand Parlor, which 
convened in Santa Cruz in 1902, authorized the incoming grand presi- 
dent to appoint a permanent committee of seven to be known as the 
Historic Landmarks Committee, this committee to ascertain the condi- 
tion of the remaining historic buildings of the State and endeavor to 
devise some practical method for their restoration and preservation. 
Such a committee was appointed. Funds are now provided from the 
per capita tax for this important work. 

Fort Gunnybags. Among the notable things accomplished under 
the leadership of the Historic Landmarks Committee, ably assisted 
by other organizations, was the erection of a memorial tablet marking 
the site of old Fort Gunnybags, the headquarters of the San Fran- 
cisco Vigilance Committee of 1856. The building upon which this was 
erected was destroyed by the great fire of San Francisco, but, through 
most fortunate circumstances, the tablet was preserved and on June 1, 



HISTORIC LANDMARKS 187 

1918, was replaced, ,a new building having been erected on the old 
site. 

Franciscan Misslous. The necessity of restoring the Franciscan 
Missions has particularly appealed to the Order, and several years ago 
a survey was made of all the remaining establishments, following 
which survey the committee set to work to repair and safeguard those 
most in need of attention. San Antonio de Padua in Monterey county 
was in a deplorable state of ruin. The roof of the once imposing 
chapel and the unprotected walls of adobe were year by year being 
leveled. The beautiful arches were fast becoming ruined heaps. The 
work of restoration began in 1903. Nearly $1,500 was expended. Un- 
fortunately, the earthquake of 1906 shook down the rebuilt walls and 
work had to be begun anew. The walls, however, were later rebuilt 
and a new roof erected covering the entire chapel. A total of over 
$5,000 was expended. 

In 1911 the attention of the committee was called to the condition 
of Santa Inez in Santa Barbara county. The picturesque bell tower 
or wall facade containing the openings for the bells, the most attrac- 
tive feature of this mission, was a complete ruin. It was rebuilt at a 
cost of $900, which sum was furnished by the Landmarks Committee. 
This belfry has been extensively copied throughout the State where 
the mission style of architecture is followed. 

Mission San Jose in Alameda county, through the efforts of the 
Historic Landmarks Committee and a joint committee of Native Sons 
and Native Daughters from the Parlors of Alameda' county, has been 
repaired. A new roof was erected and the entire weight removed 
from the adobe walls. Tiles cover the new roof, replacing the disfig- 
uring shingles. Nearly $5,000 has been expended on this work. 

Coniniauder 3Iouts"OM»ery's liaudins- Place. On September 
8, 1915, a tablet was placed at the corner of Montgomery and Clay 
streets, San Francisco, marking the landing place of Commander 
John B. Montgomery, The inscription on the tablet briefly tells the 
story. It reads as follows : 

"On July 9, 1S46, in the early morning, in <the 
days Avheu the ^vater came up to 31on(gomery 
street,' Commander John B. Montgomery, for >vhom 
iMontfe-omery street v*-as named, landed near tliis 
spot from the U. S. Sloop-of-AVar 'Portsmouth,' to 
raise the Stars and Stripes on the Plaza, now Ports- 
mouth Square, one blociv to the Tvest.'' 



188 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

One of the last and most important duels ever fought in California 
was between United States Senator David C. Broderick and Judge 
David S. Terry, which took place on September 13, 1859, in the 
county of San Mateo, just over the San Francisco county line. As 
this "affair of honor" aroused a public sentiment that marked the 
end of dueling in California, and, as the principals were prominent 
Californians as well as national figures, it was deemed important that 
the location be suitably marked. Largely through the efforts of Mr. 
Hermann Schussler of San Francisco, the meeting place was definitely 
located and a bronze tablet placed February 22, 1917, bearing the 
following inscription : 



"UNITED STATES SENATOR 
DAVID C. BRODERICK 

aud 
JUDGE DAVID S. TERRY 
FOUGHT A DUEL ON THIS GROUND IN THE 
EARLY 3IORNING OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 
13 1859. SENATOR BRODERICK RECEIVED A 
WOUND FROM V^HICH HE DIED THREE DAYS 
LATER. THE AFFAIR 3IARKED THE END OF 

DUELING IN CALIFORNIA. 
Senator Broderick, Facing: AVest, Occupied the Posi- 
tion Marked by tlie Shaft Farthest to the South, 
While Judge Terry, Facing East, Stood in the Posi- 
tion Designated by the Sliaft in the Foreground. 
Spectators Occupied tliis eminence. 
Erected by Historic Landmarks Committee, 
Native Sons of the Golden West, 1916." 

Funds have been raised through the activity of the Donner Monu- 
ment Committee, headed by Dr. C. W. Chapman, for an imposing 
monument to the Donner party. With Native Sons taking the initia- 
tive, an artistic and striking monument has been erected at Sonoma 
commemorating that enthusiastic band of Americans known as the 
Bear Flag Party. The establishment of the fellowships in Pacific 
Coast history and the splendid work accomplished is familiar. Truly 
the Order has a record of which it can be justly proud, fully meeting 
the expectations of those patriotic Californians who, in 1876, founded 
an order to perpetuate its memories of the days of forty-nine. 



HISTORIC LANDMARKS 189 



NOTABLE LANDMARKS IIV CALIPORiVlA.* 

Presidio Hill, San Diego, marked by a great cross, erected 1915, 
by the Order of Panama, in memory of Fr. Junipero Serra and his 
works. The first chapel was erected on Presidio Hill. The massive 
commemorative cross is made of steel, concrete, and fragments of tiles 
from the old buildings of the first mission settlement. 

Gigautic Grapevine at San Gabriel, planted 1861. Called the 
largest in the world. 

Presidio of Santa Barbara, founded 1788. 

Presidio of .Monterey, founded 1770. 

Presidio of San Francisco, founded 1776, not built until 1792. 

Sutter's Fort, Sacramento, built by Captain John A. Sutter, 
1841-1842, was the headquarters of .American emigrants. The prop- 
erty was acquii-ed by the State of California, the present building 
erected on the old site, now used as a museum. 

Marshall Monument, Colma, Eldorado County ; a memorial 
erected to James W. Marshall, an employe of Captain Sutter, recog- 
nized discoverer of gold in California ; erected by the State of Cali- 
fornia, 1889. 

Fort Ross, tlic only Russian settlement made within State of 
California, 1806, 1811; at present a ruin.. 

For "Ross," a corruption of Little "Rossiya," or Russia. 

Captain Sutter bought equipment of Fort Ross from Russia and 
conveyed forty pitces of cannon, and flintlock muskets to Sutter's 
Fort. 

Casa Grande, the old adobe ranch house and home of General 
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, last military governor of California, in 
Sonoma foothills, 1834-1844. 

Portsmouth Square, San Francisco, the site where Captain John 
B. Montgomery, commanding the U. S. sloop-of-war Portsmouth, 
raised the American flag, on July 8, 1846, thereby taking possession 
of San Francisco in the name of the L'^nited States. 

* .'\cknowledgement is made to "California Missions and Land- 
marks," by Mrs. .\. S. C. Forbes. El Camino Real, Los Angeles, 
California. 



190 PACIFIC HISTORY STORIES 

The Prayer-book Cross, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, was 

erected by George \V. Childs of Philadelphia to commemorate the 

first protestant religious service held by Chaplain Fletcher, of Drake's 

command, in California, near Point Reyes, in 1578. 

Sherman Rose Tree, Monterey ; a Gold of Ophir rose tree, relic 
of a romance between General W. T. Sherman, when a lieutenant, 
with troops at Monterey, and Senorita Bonifacio, the belle of Monterey. 

Custom House at Monterey, Alvarado street. Commodore John 
Drake Sloat, U. S. N., took possession of California for the United 
States July 7, 1846, raising the American flag. 

The Custom House has been used by the Spanish, the T^Iexican 
and the American governments. 

Restored through Native Sons of the Golden West ; now used as 
headquarters for local ... S. G. W. and N. D. G. W. 

Colton Hall, "Monterey. First capital of California. California's 
first constitutional convention met in Colton Hall September 1, 1849. 

Old Theatre, Monterey, a picturesque old adobe, still standing on 
Pacific avenue, Monterey, belongs to the State. 

Sloat Monunieut, Monterey, a memorial erected to Rear-.\dmiral 
John Drake Sloat, who took possession of California for U. S. July 
7, 1846, crowns the commanding eminence of the Presidio Reservation. 

Fr. Junipero Serra's Moiiuiiieiit, Monterey, erected by Mrs. 
Jane L. Stanford, on a hill overlooking the P.ay of Monterey. 

A cross marks the spot where Father Serra landed, and the tree 
under which he held service. 

This spot is now in the United States Presidio Reservation, 
Monterey. 

El Caniluo Keal, the King's Highway, the Royal Road, is the 
Spanish name for the road that joined the twenty-one Missions, three 
pueblos, and four presidios in the early days of California, from San 
Diego to Sonoma. 

The greater portion of El Camino Real has been incorporated in 
the system of State Highways of California. With but few excep- 
tions El Camino Real is Route No. 2 of the State Highway, through 
the coast counties, a continuous road over seven hundred miles long. 
Now marked by four hundred Mission Bell guide posts erected by 
El Camino Real Association, and donated by various organizations 
and individuals. 




The End of the Trail. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 641 620 




